Causecast

by KAREN MURPHY, Contributing Writer

There’s nothing like fanning the flames of swine flu hysteria a little higher, so why not connect incidence of the complications from the H1N1 virus to pregnant women? After all, pregnant women are well known for worrying obsessively over their health and the health of their babies (I have four kids and I know me some obsessive worrying), so connecting pregnancy to complications from H1N1 swine flu is almost as much fun as suggesting that drinking water while pregnant will result in two-headed babies or that sex during pregnancy makes your baby grow fur.

Except … the H1N1 swine flu link to pregnancy is real, according to a study published in The Lancet. Not about the incidence of the virus—that remains similar to that of the general population. But pregnant women contracting the H1N1 swine flu virus seem to be about four times more likely to be hospitalized than non-pregnant people infected with the virus.

Admittedly, it was a rather small sample used in the study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but with only about 700 confirmed deaths so far from H1N1 swine flu, it’s understandable that the study was small. Thirty-four cases of confirmed or suspected H1N1 flu were studied, and 11 were admitted to the hospital, which is four times the hospital admission rate on non-pregnant H1N1 cases. Six of these women died from pneumonia linked to the flu. Yikes.

The good news? And there is some. In every case, complications were avoided simply with early treatment with anti-viral medication.

Bottom line: if you’re pregnant and you experience flu-like symptoms, get thee to a doctor to be checked out right away. It could be nothing—after all, flu-like symptoms occur for lots of reasons—but your best bet while pregnant is a safe bet, which includes being sure it’s not H1N1 swine flu.

Add this to the usual list of good prenatal care like eating well, drinking lots of water, getting plenty of rest and exercise, staying away from alcohol and a whole litany of foods like unpasteurized dairy and juices, certain fishes, deli meats and raw meats, and raw vegetable sprouts (unless you grow them yourself), and you and your baby should be fine.

Photo by dizznbonn, flickr