News

H1N1 Vaccination

Posted on: 11/22/2009

We strongly recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated for both H1N1 and seasonal flu. 

If you are pregnant, you can call our office and schedule a lab visit for the H1N1 flu shot vaccine injection. 

Some pregnant women are concerned about the safety of 2009 H1N1 flu and seasonal flu vaccines. Both flu vaccines are safe. Vaccination is one of the most important things that you can do for yourself and your baby. Vaccination is safe for you and your baby. Both shots protect your baby from getting the flu. Your baby cannot get the flu shot until 6 months of age. The seasonal flu vaccine has been given safely to millions of pregnant women over the past 45 years. Flu shots have not been shown to cause harm to pregnant women or their babies. The 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine is made the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine.

The risk for a pregnant woman and her unborn baby of getting sick with the flu is far greater than being vaccinated.

If you did not get the flu vaccines during pregnancy, you should still get them even if you are breast feeding. This will help prevent you and your baby from getting the flu.

There are some people who should not get any flu vaccine without first consulting a physician. These include:  

• People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs.  
• People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination.  
• People who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine previously.  
• Children younger than 6 months of age (influenza vaccine is not approved for this age group).  
• People who have a moderate-to-severe illness with a fever (they should wait until they recover to get vaccinated).

Usefull Links:

Center for Disease Control (General Information on H1N1)

Center for Disease Control (H1N1 and Pregnancy)  

Center for Disease Control (Influenza Information)