You really have to feel for the poor flu vaccine. Not only is it a target of the inexplicable “anti-vax” movement that would have us believe all vaccines are the work of pharmaceutical devils, but the flu vaccine suffers the added indignity of having to fight off the same myths or variations thereof year after year (call it “seasonal myth disorder”—or SMD). You know the ones I’m talking about: You can actually get the flu from the vaccine! Flu vaccines contain mercury, formaldehyde, and antifreeze! The side effects are worse than just getting the flu!
Like I said, on the surface it makes sense. Many over-the-counter and prescription drugs warn against taking them while pregnant. And there are more than enough studies to show what happens when pregnant women drink and smoke.
But in the case of the flu vaccine, there’s more than enough evidence to show that the benefits far outweigh any risks. There’s evidence to support that maternal vaccination while pregnant helps newborns fight off respiratory infections after birth. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends all pregnant women get a flu vaccination (albeit in injection and not nasal form).Bottom line: A mother who contracts influenza during pregnancy is at higher risk for serious problems like pneumonia, which in turn can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is a life-threatening condition where fluid collects in the lung’s air sacs and makes the lungs heavy and stiff, which in turn prevents the lungs from expanding normally and pushing out oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream. You don’t need to be a doctor to figure out what a huge risk that could cause both mother and child.
Now here’s another study to add to the mounting pile of evidence in favor of expectant mothers getting their annual flu shot. In a paper published earlier this year in Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers from the University of Western Australia in Perth looked at a group of 58,008 births over a 21-month period between 2012 and 2013—when the country was in the midst of an influenza epidemic. For the vast majority of those births (52,932), the mothers had not received a flu vaccine, compared to 5,076 that did. Sadly, there were 377 stillbirths among the group. While that’s less than 1% of the total group, among the vaccinated mothers the risk of stillbirth was 51% less compared to the mothers who had not vaccinated.
The Perth researchers hope that more studies will strengthen the argument in favor of pushing influenza vaccines for pregnant mothers. Hopefully those arguments will make it to our shores as well: the CDC reports that in November 2015 that 40.2% of women in the U.S. received the flu vaccine before and during pregnancy. So c’mon moms and moms-to-be: Get that shot, for yourself and your baby.
Go here to read more about the Perth study. Then see what the CDC has to say about flu vaccination. And if you’re still not convinced, read up on acute respiratory distress syndrome.
