Pregnant Women Should Be Extra Careful Of Swine Flu

should immediately be administered antiviral medication such as Tamiflu

Analysis coming from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that women who are pregnant and who get the swine influenza virus are around four times more likely to end up in hospital as a result when compared to people who are not pregnant.  They also said that they could not say whether pregnant women were more likely to get the swine flu virus in the first place, but said that once they had got it they needed to be extra careful because they were at a higher risk of suffering from serious health complications.

The researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based their analysis on 34 cases of pregnant women getting swine flu in the United States between April and middle of June. Out of these 34 cases six women died. Out of the six deaths four of the women were perfectly healthy and in the cases of the other two, one was obese and the other one suffered from asthma.

The CDC recommended that pregnant women even if they only have mild symptoms of swine flu should immediately be administered antiviral medication such as Tamiflu. Ms. Denise Jamieson speaking of behalf of the CDC said that pregnant women should not delay getting treatment because they were pregnant and should act fast. They even went as far to say that women who were only suspected of having swine flu should be given Tamiflu straightaway and should not wait for full confirmation and diagnosis.

The study which was published in the respected medical journal, the Lancet should serve as a warning to pregnant women to be extra vigilant and extra careful especially when moving around in crowded places where they could contract viruses from people. Washing hands and following simple common sense precautions are probably the most effective ways to make sure you don’t get the swine flu.