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3rd Trimester
Posted on SAL...but questions about Swine Flu Vax..worried!
Hi there...I have a zillion questions and would love to hear anyone's opinions about the swine flu shot!!! I am truly in turmoil about this!
My husband and I had decided that we are NOT getting the swine flu vaccination...there has just not been enough long term studies and we are so grateful to have a healthy baby. Plus I am allergic to eggs...plus there is no cap now on how much mercury can be in the swine flu vaccination.
However, today at midwife's office she told me some pretty scary statistics. I am a third grade teacher so am at risk of getting it....
She said that the death rate for pregnant women who get it is 28%...WOW WOW WOW...that is a lot! She also said it's because it attacks your lower lungs and that is where our lungs are squished from baby so it's hard to heal from. She also said that being pregnant our bodies will protect the baby, but not fight off the virus like anyone else's does. do.
YIKES...have you decided to get it or not? With or without the mercury? Are you worried about side effects. I have never even gotten the regular flu shot. Everyone I know that gets one seems to get the flu LOL...maybe just a coincidence though. ANy thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you!BFP #1 3/99. DD born 12/24/99
BFP#2 8/2008. Missed miscarriage found at 11 weeks, Emergency D&C 10/31/08
BFP #3 1/29/09 Natural miscarriage 2/14
BFP#4 4/24 DD born 12/14/09
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Posted on SAL...but questions about Swine Flu Vax..worried!
ive read multiple places that pregnant women are around 6% of h1n1 deaths, definitely not 28%. i just googled it and found it again on web md:
"The CDC has details on 266 of the 305 U.S. swine flu deaths reported as of July 29. Fifteen of these 266 deaths -- about 6% -- were among pregnant women. Most of the deaths were among women in their third trimester."
ill get it if i can (with or without mercury), my dr. was supposed to get it 2 weeks ago and still hasn't.
"The product inserts make it VERY clear that the ?swine? flu versions of these vaccines have NOT undergone any testing to demonstrate whether or not they are safe and whether or not they even work. They are relying on the fact that they are so similar to the regular flu shots that they should work just as well."
"This is a little scary. The flu shots are ALREADY recommended for pregnant and nursing moms, BUT (and this is a really huge but) the vaccine product inserts make it very clear that the regular flu vaccines have never been tested on pregnant or nursing women to determine if there is any harm to fetuses or young babies (with one exception ? the Flumist nasal spray brand did have some testing in this area, BUT not enough, as is stated in the product insert).
Despite this complete lack of research, it is recommended for these moms anyway. Anyone see a problem with that?
If you do get a flu shot, at least make sure it is mercury free"
Just remember to do your research and follow your heart (it never lies!)
I've also heard that if you are allergic to eggs, you aren't eligible for the shot. Does your midwife know about your allergy and is still recommending it?
Please consider these sources for your research:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- www.flu.gov
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American College of Nurse-Midwives
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Association of Women?s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses
- Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology
- March of Dimes Foundation
- Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine
You are allergic to eggs and can't get the vaccine anyway, but your husband should consider it for your sake, and for your baby's sake to minimize exposure.And - not to take the H1N1 flu lightly, but an average of 36,000 flu related deaths occur each year. My point being - the H1N1 is no more "scary" than the regular seasonal flu.
I wasn't planning on getting mine. Annual or H1N1. I never got them as a kid or as an adult and I've been very healthy (getting sick once every few years or more). I have a very laid back OB too. He has no issues with me eating my steaks mid-rare, eggs over easy or indulging in deli meats whenever the craving hits. When I asked him if this was a media frenzy or if it was necessary...he said without a doubt it's necessary. Of course it came with the prevention is the best medicine and the don't be around mass amounts of people, sick people, wash hands regularly and don't touch your face. He said that we should get them because it is hitting so hard and so quickly. I can also opt for the preservative free shots but that they are not doing the mercury preservatives anymore. The choice was still mine. The clinching factor for me though was that the antibodies that my body will create by receiving these vaccines WILL pass through the placenta AND breast milk. That is HUGE to me because I was already worried about having a baby in the middle of flu season when he will naturally have an imature imune system. I take comfort in the fact that I will be doing him more good in getting them now.
I don't know what to tell you about the egg allergies. I know that the annual flu shot is incubated that way but I'm not sure about the H1N1. It's worth talking to your OB and seeing what your options are. You might not have a choice but to skip it. If you do end up going for it, don't wait too long. I know that it takes about 3 weeks for the antibodies to make their way across the placenta.
Good luck with your decision making.
Good info but you probably should mention you copied it from Dr. Sears' website. I knew it sounded familiar.
Still good info though. Not trying to give you a hard time.
Those are 2 very different statistics. One says that off ALL the H1N1 deaths, 6% of those are pregnant women. The other statistic says that of pregnant women WHO GET the H1N1 flu virus, 28% of those women die. MEANING the 28% of pg dead women only make up 6% of the total deaths.
Semantics people...come on!
Got both flu shots a week ago. With the mercury. other than a sore arm for a day, no side effects yet, haven't gotten the flu yet either.
the makers of the vaccine try to remove most of the mercry before shipping it out, so the amount in the shot is really really small. You probably get more mercury from eating a tuna sandwich than the shot.
If I could get my hands on one I'd definitely get it. I am planning on going tomorrow and waiting in line again to see if I can get one from the city (I was turned away yesterday as they reached their "quota" for the day - and no Drs have them in my area). I also received the seasonal flu shot.
Being pregnant makes any illness riskier. I got a bout of a bug when I was pregnant with DS that was very mild for all of my family members; but I ended up in the ER on Zofran, Immodium and getting 3 liters of fluids dumped back into my system. I'm lucky I didn't go into labor from it.
No tests have been done on either shot, just like they haven't been done on Zofran, or Sudafed, or Tamiflu. Yet, hundreds of thousands of pregnant women get the flu shot (both are made in the same way with eggs) every year.
I was supposed to get mine today, but apparently the doctor's office never get their shipment- and according to my OB, they don't think they're ever going to get it. Awesome.
Right now the priority in Dallas County is uninsured children with pre-existing conditions. The only pregnant women that are getting it at this point are those in the prisons (???).
I'm not sure why, but I'm not surprised.
No one here seems to have any except the City of Chicago and they're not prioritizing at all. It's 100% being given out first come first serve at walk-ins at the city colleges. I showed up yesterday at 245 for the clinic that opened at 3pm and was turned away because people had started lining up at noon. So, if I want one I have to go in at 11 or noon tomorrow, wait in line to get a "ticket" to come back at 3 when they actually open and wait in line again for my shot. They're giving out 1200 shots at each date.
Cuz it's healthy to be surrounded by hundreds of people in an enclosed area for hours at a time while on my feet with no place to sit - and a toddler in tow. Great, thanks Mayor Daley and CDPH.
I know!! I'm all for the kids getting it first... but the prison thing is annoying. The city is offering the shots to kids starting this week, and then next week to only UNINSURED pregnant women, people under 24, and those that work with children. I have no idea when people with insurance are going to be able to get it...
I developed the flu vaccine, both FluMist and the regular seasonal vaccine, before going to medical school, so I'll share my thoughts and first-hand experience...
PP's are correct. The vaccine is incubated in eggs, so if you are allergic to eggs you cannot get either the seasonal or H1N1 vaccine.
As a pregnant woman you can only get the injectible version of either vaccine. FluMist contains live virus, where as the injectible contains attenuated (killed) virus, and is not suitable for pregnant women and children under two.
About 55,000 people die every year from the seasonal flu and pneumonia. The majority of those people are already immunocompromised with other underlying medical conditions. That said, if you are otherwise healthy, you are at no greater risk. If you have another medical condition that put you at risk (and you weren't allergic to eggs), then I would say you need to weight the pros and cons and think about getting it.
As far as research, when I left for medical school in 2004 FluMist was just heading for clinical trials. It became available to the public in 2008 (maybe 2007) - but it had 3-4 years of further study before becoming available. As for the seasonal flu vaccine, as soon as one flu season is over we started testing and planning for the next season. I also don't think enough long-term research has been done for the H1N1 vaccine. As a doctor and a pregnant woman, I will not be getting the vaccine for myself or my children. We've also already had H1N1, but even if we hadn't, I still wouldn't be getting the vaccine.
Why does your midwife think there is an option or room for discussion if you are allergic to eggs? The lady in front of me at the clinic Saturday was refused the shot because of her egg allergy. No one administering that shot wants the liability that may arise if something bad happens to you for getting a shot that was grown in an egg.
There may not be enough research to your liking, which is a legitimate concern. But saying there has been a complete lack of research is simply not true.
https://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/clinical-care-research/20090826h1n1vacc-trials.html
https://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/20/h1n1.flu.kids.trial/index.html
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/nioa-eri092109.php
The fact that most drugs are never tested on pregnant women (but we still take Class B and C drugs anyway that are recommended by OB/GYNs) is a major stumbling block, but they are even doing a trial on pregnant women:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00963430
Results haven't come out yet for that study so if you want to say you're not getting it because pregnant women haven't been tested, that makes complete sense. But you can't say there is a general complete lack of testing of this vaccine.
the kids and i got ours. dh hasn't yet because it's not available to him. we always get the seasonal flu shots every year.
I think the decision is really made for you. But when you see your provider, please point out that her stats about the deaths of pregnant women is 100% wrong. Around 30 pregnant women total have died from H1N1. More than 100 women have had it .ln fact, thousands of pregnant women have likely had it. If you conservatively estimate that 1 million people have had H1N1 (and that is a conservative estimate), and if you assume that 1% of the population is pregnant at any given time (and that is considered to be the general rule of thumb),. at least 10,000 pregnant women have had h1n1. And 30 have died.
So, yea... not 28%. In fact, not even 6%. The 6% stat was taken from a study in the Lancet that looked at a short time frame in the spring. By now, many more people have had H1N1.
Pregnant women ARE more at risk from complications from H1N1, but to state that 1/3 of women who contract H1N1 will die is HUGELY irresponsible and your provider should be corrected.
Best of luck - use good hygiene and if you feel ill, call your doc.I'm sure you'll be fine
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.