What Pregnant Women Should Know About the Flu

Advice for pregnant women often includes more don’ts than do’s. Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t eat certain foods and don’t take certain medications, are just some examples of sound advice designed to keep the mother to be and her unborn baby healthy. But when it comes to the flu, the best advice is: do get a flu shot, do take antiviral medications if your doctor recommends them and do take everyday precautions such as frequent hand washing and avoiding contact with sick people and crowded places.

Changes to a pregnant woman’s body, as well as to her immune system, put pregnant women at higher risk of developing severe problems from both the seasonal and H1N1 influenza. Vaccination can prevent the flu, which, in turn, prevents complications. As an added benefit, experts say that a pregnant woman’s vaccination may also lower her newborn’s risk of getting the flu.

In 2009, the H1N1 (swine) flu is circulating in addition to the regular seasonal flu. There is no single vaccine available that will immunize against both types of flu, so pregnant women need to have 2 separate vaccinations.

What is Influenza or Flu?
The flu is a respiratory (breathing) infection caused by different types of influenza viruses. It spreads when a person sneezes or coughs and droplets containing the virus spread into the air and other people breathe them in. It also spreads when someone touches something that has been touched by a person with the flu, such as countertops, phone, doorknobs, stair rails, computer keyboards, shopping carts, etc.

Seasonal Influenza or Flu
Seasonal flu occurs each year, usually in the late fall and winter. Symptoms begin 1-5 days after exposure and last about 1 week. The seasonal flu symptoms most often occur in the upper respiratory (lung) tract and include:

• fever
• chills
• body aches
• feeling very tired
• headache
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• dry cough 

Complications of the seasonal flu can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration, and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, asthma, or diabetes. In pregnant women, complications have been known to lead to pneumonia, dehydration and premature birth.

An infected person is contagious with seasonal flu, or able to pass it on to others, 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 7 days after becoming sick. Some young children and people with weakened immune systems may be contagious for longer than a week.