MINNEAPOLIS — The first shipments of the H1N1 flu vaccine will arrive soon, and Stephanie Pelach, who is six months pregnant, will have a decision to make.
Should she get a vaccine, approved only weeks ago, that has never been tested in pregnant women? Or take her chances with a flu strain that can be especially dangerous during pregnancy? For Pelach, who lives in New Brighton, Minn., it’s a sobering choice.
“There is this slight concern — is this safe for me, is this safe for my baby?” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this emotional of a decision.”
Health officials say that pregnant women should be among the first to get the vaccine. They renewed their call Thursday after new data show that 100 pregnant women had been hospitalized with swine flu through late August and 28 of them had died from complications of the illness.
Many major medical organizations, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, are urging pregnant women to get the shots. But advocates are running into something of a cultural backlash from those who think that the vaccine is unnatural, unnecessary or unsafe.
“I won’t get the swine flu vaccine, and I won’t give it to my kids,” says Heather Lenort, of Plymouth, who is pregnant with her third child. Lenort, 34, said she is dubious about vaccine safety in general and thinks this one is too new and untested.
Since the outbreak started in April, scientists have noticed a disproportionate number of expectant mothers have been hospitalized with the flu. So far, pregnant women, who make up 1 percent of the population, have accounted for 6 percent of H1N1 deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Dr. Greg Poland, a Mayo Clinic expert in pandemic flu and infectious diseases, said it is not clear why pregnant women are more vulnerable. But the numbers show that flu not only endangers their lives, he said, but increases the risks of miscarriage and birth defects as well.
