Pregnant women in Ireland urged to get flu jab
October 24, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News, Pregnancy
Pregnant women four times more likely to have complications during pregnancy if the swine flu is contracted warned a medical expert.
Experts in the medical field have tried to put any fears over the H1N1 vaccination to rest stating that it would be far more dangerous for expectant mothers contract the illness than to suffer from any side effects from the vaccine.
Dr. Michael O’Connell, of Dublin’s Coombe Hospital, urged women to get the jab, echoing the sentiments of The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
Warning that as many as 21,000 pregnant women in Ireland could contract the virus—10 percent possibly requiring hospitalization—Dr. Michael O’Connell promises that he’s “not trying to scaremonger.”
“This is to try to give advice on the best thing to do, and our feeling at this stage to prevent this is to take the vaccine,” said Dr. O’Connell.
“This disorder is serious enough that if you get the serious end of the spectrum it can potentially be fatal.”
The recommendation comes on the heels of the death of a 14-year-old boy in the Republic yesterday while another pregnant woman fights to survive in a different hospital.
There are currently two H1N1 vaccines licensed in Ireland for widespread use. Pandemrix is on the market, and nearly half of all GPs in Ireland had received the vaccine by yesterday. Another vaccine, Celvapan, will be available in the near future. Dr. O’Connell reassured that both vaccines are safe for expectant and breastfeeding mothers.
“If this was not a potentially serious disease you could have a discussion as to the merits of the vaccine,” stated Dr. O’Connell.
“But this is potentially a very serious disease for pregnant women, and on that basis the vaccine should be taken once available. Pregnant women are worried but worrying unnecessarily. I think they should be a lot more worried about a severe form of this disease.”
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magda finnegan on Wed, 4th Nov 2009 12:52 pm
The World Health Organization recommends not to give pregant woman and young children the new swine flu vaccine Pandemrix, so when if ever will the standard vaccine Celvapan be made available here in dublin for my daughter who is pregnant??
Shawn Douglas on Thu, 5th Nov 2009 6:42 pm
Magda,
The World Health Organization (WHO) doesn’t make it very easy for us, do they? I will say that from my research, it appears that WHO has retracted its recommendation against using Pandemrix. The Times, among other news carriers, published this on October 16:
“The World Health Organisation updated its guidance for expectant mothers yesterday to support the use of Pandemrix. It said: ‘The World Health Organisation supports the use of vaccines as recommended by functional regulatory authorities. The GSK [GlaxoSmithKline] vaccine has been licensed for use in pregnant women in Europe, as of September 2009.’”
Of course, I can’t find the source of the WHO quote, and the WHO website isn’t the easiest to navigate. (Their site is apparently down as I type this.) But it appears the WHO has lifted any recommendations against using Pandemrix:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/frequently_asked_questions/vaccine_preparedness/safety_approval/en/index.html
As the status report on Celvapan is questionable, I’d encourage you to further research Pandemrix and make an informed decision.