Explaining Medicine
  • News
  • Health & Lifestyle
    • Diet & Weight Management
    • Exercise & Fitness
    • Nutrition, Food & Recipes
    • Prevention & Wellness
  • Conditions
    • Custom1
      • Conditions A-Z
      • Procedures A-Z
      • Allergies
      • Alzheimer’s
      • Arthritis
      • Asthma
      • Blood Pressure
      • Cholesterol
      • Cancer
    • Custom2
      • Chronic Pain
      • Cold Flu
      • Depression
      • Diabetes
      • Digestion
      • Eyesight
      • Health Living
      • Healthy Kids
      • Hearing Ear
    • Custom3
      • Heart
      • HIV/AIDS
      • Infectious Disease
      • Lung Conditions
      • Menopause
      • Men’s Health
      • Mental Health
      • Migraine
      • Neurology
    • Custom4
      • Oral Health
      • Pregnancy
      • Senior Health
      • Sexual Health
      • Skin Problems
      • Sleep
      • Thyroid
      • Travel Health
      • Women’s Health
  • Medications
    • Medications
    • Supplements and Vitamins
  • Medical Dictionary
  • Health Alerts
Monitors Can Watch Baby’s Breathing, but at What...
FDA Tests Find Toxic Chemicals in Food
The Risks of Becoming a Dad Later in...
Researchers Identify Maximum Human Exertion
Few Getting Needed Checkups After Prostate Cancer
Study: Dentists Prescribe Antibiotics Far Too Often
Many Dietary Supplements Dangerous for Teens
Music Education Can Make Students’ Test Scores Sing
Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?
Ex-CDC Chief Pleads Guilty to Disorderly Conduct
Top Posts

Explaining Medicine

  • News
  • Health & Lifestyle
    • Diet & Weight Management
    • Exercise & Fitness
    • Nutrition, Food & Recipes
    • Prevention & Wellness
  • Conditions
    • Custom1
      • Conditions A-Z
      • Procedures A-Z
      • Allergies
      • Alzheimer’s
      • Arthritis
      • Asthma
      • Blood Pressure
      • Cholesterol
      • Cancer
    • Custom2
      • Chronic Pain
      • Cold Flu
      • Depression
      • Diabetes
      • Digestion
      • Eyesight
      • Health Living
      • Healthy Kids
      • Hearing Ear
    • Custom3
      • Heart
      • HIV/AIDS
      • Infectious Disease
      • Lung Conditions
      • Menopause
      • Men’s Health
      • Mental Health
      • Migraine
      • Neurology
    • Custom4
      • Oral Health
      • Pregnancy
      • Senior Health
      • Sexual Health
      • Skin Problems
      • Sleep
      • Thyroid
      • Travel Health
      • Women’s Health
  • Medications
    • Medications
    • Supplements and Vitamins
  • Medical Dictionary
  • Health Alerts
  • News

    Mom-to-Be’s Flu Can Harm Her Unborn Baby

    by WebMD January 14, 2019

    HealthDay Reporter

    FRIDAY, Jan. 11, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Pregnant women who get a flu shot protect not only themselves, but also their developing baby, health officials report.

    When a mom-to-be gets the flu, she can be so sick she needs to be admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit. And new research finds her baby then runs the risk of being born preterm, underweight and with a low “Apgar score” — a gauge of an infant’s overall health.

    “The findings support the importance of pregnant women receiving the influenza vaccine, and of prompt treatment with antiviral medications for pregnant women suspected of having influenza,” said lead researcher Kim Newsome. She’s a health scientist at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Everyone aged 6 months and older should get a flu shot every year, the CDC recommends. That guideline is especially important for pregnant women, the very young, the very old and anybody with a chronic illness. These people are at a high risk for complications of the flu, according to the CDC.

    Flu can range from mild to severe, but it’s especially risky for pregnant women. During pregnancy, women undergo changes to their immune system, heart and lungs that make them more prone to severe illness from flu throughout their pregnancy and in the two weeks following delivery, the agency warns.

    With the flu now spreading throughout the United States, it’s still not too late to get vaccinated. Among the active flu strains circulating this season are influenza A H1N1 and H3N2. This year’s vaccine offers protection against both of these strains.

    Last week, 19 states reported high flu activity, and it was widespread in 24 states. Flu activity was high in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia, according to the CDC.

    For their research, Newsome and her colleagues studied 2009 data on 490 pregnant women with flu and nearly 1,500 pregnant women who did not get the flu that year.

    In 2009, the H1N1 flu was at pandemic levels. About 60 million Americans came down with flu, as many as 400,000 were hospitalized, and up to 18,000 died, the CDC reported.

    Last year, when the more virulent H3N2 virus was predominant, millions more got sick, nearly 1 million were hospitalized, and as many as 80,000 died, according to the CDC.

    In 2009, pregnant women who were admitted to an intensive care unit for flu were more likely to deliver preterm infants, low birth weight infants and infants with low Apgar scores, compared with women who didn’t come down with influenza.

    Women with the flu who weren’t hospitalized or were hospitalized but not admitted to the intensive care unit didn’t have significantly higher risks for any of the complications studied, the researchers said.

    The report was published Jan. 9 in the journal Birth Defects Research.

    Dr. Rahul Gupta is chief medical and health officer at the March of Dimes. “The rate of flu vaccination of women of childbearing age, and especially those in the first trimester [of pregnancy], is unacceptably low,” he said.

    Although the vaccine isn’t 100 percent effective in preventing flu, people who are vaccinated and get the flu get a much milder case, Gupta noted.

    “Getting the flu vaccine early in pregnancy is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as an expecting mom,” he said.

    Gupta thinks that the anti-vaccine movement has created doubts about the safety of the flu vaccine during pregnancy.

    “Despite the false data about vaccines‘ link with autism, some are understandably cautious and may falsely believe that the vaccine can be harmful,” he said.

    But getting sick with flu early in pregnancy makes it twice as likely to have a baby with birth defects of the brain, spine or heart, Gupta said.

    Women who aren’t sure they should get a flu shot should have a discussion with a medical professional, he advised.

    “Having a discussion with a health care provider is critical,” Gupta said. “That’s where you can get your questions answered and your doubts cleared.”

    Getting vaccinated is one more thing you can do — like taking vitamins, eating right, exercising, and not drinking or smoking — to ensure the health of your baby, he explained.

    “Here’s another proactive step you can take to protect your baby,” Gupta said of a flu shot. “To me, it’s really a no-brainer.”

    WebMD News from HealthDay

    Copyright © 2013-2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

    Read the article here

    Share this Post

    Share Explaining Medicine Share Explaining Medicine

    Mom-to-Be’s Flu Can Harm Her Unborn Baby was last modified: January 17th, 2019 by WebMD

    Related

    Apgar scoresautismbabydeveloping babyexercisingfirst trimesterflu shotH1N1heartimmune systemlungspregnantpreventing fluSmokingthe fluvaccinevitamins
    0 comment
    0
    Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
    WebMD

    previous post
    From Couch Potato To Fitness Buff: How I Learned To Love Exercise
    next post
    Do's and Don'ts of Winter Skin Care in Pregnancy

    Related Articles

    How This Couple Lost 300 Pounds Together in a Year

    February 9, 2017

    10 Things To Know About 2017-2018 Flu Shots

    September 6, 2017

    Every medical student deserves to be educated in an anti-bias learning environment

    February 4, 2018

    2 Types of Diabetes Meds May Raise Heart Risk

    December 21, 2018

    ‘Hot’ Yoga Is No Better for Your Heart: Study

    January 19, 2018

    What are the lung cancer screening recommendations?

    January 15, 2019

    Excited to be pregnant after doing IVF at Malpani Infertility Clinic !

    July 6, 2018

    To Bring Down Stubbornly High Blood Pressure, It Helps To Have A Team

    May 4, 2017

    The intensity of EMR warnings: Who do they really help?

    April 22, 2018

    Ways to Encourage Your Patients to Make Better Health Choices

    November 21, 2018

    Recent Posts

    • Monitors Can Watch Baby’s Breathing, but at What Risk?

      June 5, 2019
    • FDA Tests Find Toxic Chemicals in Food

      June 5, 2019
    • The Risks of Becoming a Dad Later in Life

      June 5, 2019
    • Music Education Can Make Students’ Test Scores Sing

      June 5, 2019
    • Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?

      June 5, 2019

    Keep in touch

    Facebook Twitter Google + RSS

    Recent Posts

    • Monitors Can Watch Baby’s Breathing, but at What Risk?

      June 5, 2019
    • FDA Tests Find Toxic Chemicals in Food

      June 5, 2019
    • The Risks of Becoming a Dad Later in Life

      June 5, 2019
    • Music Education Can Make Students’ Test Scores Sing

      June 5, 2019
    • Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?

      June 5, 2019
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy

    @2022 - Explaining Medicine. All Right Reserved.


    Back To Top
    Explaining Medicine
    Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: soledad child.