Dealing with the Swine Flu Threat During Pregnancy
It’s officially a pandemic and honestly, I’m a little scared. River is only 8 months old and in babies and pregnant women, swine flu can be very serious. The pandemic has taken 29 lives in the UK so far, (with the majority of these cases seeing underlying health issues), including a pregnant woman, a baby and children.
A report in todays US News, Dealing with the Swine Flu Threat During Pregnancybrought up some interesting points which I thought you should know about.
- Pregnant women and children have been advised to get the H1N1 vaccination when it comes out in the next month or so, but the question is should pregnant women and children be one of the first or last to receive this vaccination? The vaccination is so new that this would effectively be a mass drugs trial to which we do not definitely know the outcome.
“Just today, public health experts said that there’s no way to know if any rare side effects will occur in the new vaccine until millions of people are vaccinated. Those unknowns would make an expectant mom especially nervous.” Deborah Kotz, US News
- Flu vaccinations contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that was banished from other childhood vaccines several years ago but is still used in most flu vaccines.
Studies on mercury have shown that this element passes into the brain and remains there. Mercury can have profound effects on a developping fetus, which is why you are advised not to eat shellfish, tuna, shark, mackerel, king and tilefish. This advice is something I stress to my coaching club mums in my pregnancy diet and exercise program.
There are thimerosal-free versions of the vaccine available but you may struggle to find a doctor who stocks this.
“John Iskander, the previous head of immunization safety at the CDC, told me last fall that the reason the agency doesn’t recommend thimerosal-free vaccines is because “there’s still not enough women receiving the flu vaccine, and we don’t want to throw up another barrier in the vaccination process.” ” Deborah Kotz, US News
Lastly, pregnant women who have been exposed to someone who has the virus should get the antiviral drug Tamiflu. This advice does not apply to non-pregnant women (or men in fact!).
The best thing you can do to make sure you stay healthy and fit during pregnancy is take proper precautions. Always wash your hands after being in a public place and it’s worth carrying a bottle of hand sanitizer in your handbag for occasions when you are out and there’s no access to a washbasin. Make sure your children have good hand hygeine too.
If you are pregnant and you do have symptoms, contact your GP straight away. Stay hydrated and stock up on nutrient dense foods.
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3 Responses to “Dealing with the Swine Flu Threat During Pregnancy”
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Sarah on July 23rd, 2009
There is no reason to be worried. Although Swine flu is more infectious than regular flu (due to the proteins on the surface being H1N1, similar to avian flu which was H2N1- the protein affects the way it attaches to your cells), the likelihood of being seriously affected by it is the same for regular flu (which has killed more people than swine flu this year, and every year – children and the elderly are worst affected by either flu)
I highly recommend immunisation. I have studied toxicology, and studies involving children and thimerosal, a common mercury based vaccine preservative, show that children can actually process and get rid of the mercury involved without harm, and they lose this capacity to get rid of mercury as they get older – so the younger your child is, the safer it actually is to give them a mercury based vaccine. I can send you the information I have about this if you are worried.
Immunisation is one of the greatest thing to happen to our species, and I would NEVER send my child to a school/daycare/other care facility where all the other children were not immunised.
Sarah on July 23rd, 2009
Addendum about mercury: there are different types of mercury (depending on whether is is bonded with something else, or if it is elemental etc.) and only one of these is the kind that accumulates in fish and which is why you should avoid high-in-the-food-chain fish when pregnant. This is not the kind in thimerosal. Ask your doctor – they will know all about it, and be glad you are looking for truth instead of tablois/daytime tv insanity!
Nisha on July 23rd, 2009
Sarah,
Thanks so much for taking the time to clear this up for us!
You’ve definitley put my mind at ease with regards to my son!