Is the H1N1 Vaccine Safe for Pregnant Women?
Over the past few weeks the incidents of H1N1 swine flu virus cases has seen an increase in Canada. The latest available figures as on October 10, 2009, reflect a total of 1541 hospitalized cases and 80 fatal cases. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced recently that the adjuvant vaccine has been cleared for use by the general public. The adjuvant vaccine stimulates the immune system so that the body can fight off the H1N1 virus.
While the adjuvant vaccine has been approved there is some debate about whether it is safe for pregnant women to use this vaccine as protection against swine flu. The adjuvant developed by GlaxoSmithKline has been tested in about 45,000 people across the world. However, this vaccine has not been tested on pregnant women as of yet.
The adjuvant vaccine for swine flu is said to contain natural fish oil, water and Vitamin E; all products that are known to help in boosting the immune system of the body. Currently, clinical trials are underway to check whether the vaccine is completely safe for pregnant women and the number of adjuvant doses that are required to ensure complete protection from the H1N1 virus.
While pregnant women are not at a higher risk of contracting the swine flu, a director at the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion stated that pregnant women are 4 to 6 times more likely to contract another serious disease if they get infected with the swine flu virus.
Even as the world awaits the non-adjuvant vaccine, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada released a statement that all studies so far indicated that the adjuvant vaccine was just as safe as the non-adjuvant vaccine. Dr. David Butler Jones, Canada's chief public health officer also recommended that the adjuvant vaccine could be given to pregnant women who were more than 20 weeks into pregnancy if the non-adjuvant vaccine was unavailable.
Essentially, there are three options that a pregnant woman has when it comes to taking a decision on the vaccine.
- The first option is to avoid taking the adjuvant and ensure that extreme prevention methods are followed to avoid contracting the swine flu. This is not a callous approach given that the swine flu incidence is similar to seasonal flu and pregnant women who are otherwise healthy should not be at a high risk of contracting the virus if they are careful.
- The second option is to be cautious and obtain a prescription in advance as they wait for the non-adjuvant vaccine to be released. This prescription can be held on to in case there are any initial signs of the swine flu and taken after discussions with the physician. This is also a wise option so that you do not land yourself with swine flu symptoms without any method of obtaining the vaccine.
- The third option is to get hold of the adjuvant vaccine that is available at the moment and then wait for the non-adjuvant one to be released. This is an option that pregnant women in highly penetrated swine flu areas should probably choose.