Pregnancy/Flu Shot - Page 2

[nicky85]

Hi! I just wanted to say that I got the flu when I was 7 months pregnant last year and I was just fine. The symptoms were in line with it being h1n1, but I didn't go to a doctor, and get a nasal swab, so I'll never know for sure. I spent the day resting, eating little bits of food and drinking little sips of water, gradually working my way up to more throughout the day. I was up and walking around and feeling better by the evening. The little sweet pea who was inside of me at the time is rolling around, babbling and playing as I write this. I know every woman has different health needs, but having the flu while pregnant is not an automatic sentence of pregnancy complications!

[Mama Metis]

I interpret this to mean that we do not know if it is the the influenza virus that is linked to schizophrenia, or whether it is the immune response to influenza virus. If the latter, you are not minimizing your risk by getting the vaccine. In fact, you are ensuring that you have an immune response to the influenza virus, which could be a very bad idea.

Not enough is known. And certainly not enough is known to support such a policy as vaccinating all pregnant women. It might sounds like a good idea to get the vaccine to prevent the flu, but if the vaccine is creating the conditions (triggering an immune response) for an increased risk for schizophrenia in the child, the vaccine is obviously not such a good idea.

Thank you for this info Ema-Adama! While I would definitely never get the vax while pg, I would consider getting it BEFORE pregnancy because I still don't think it's healthy for a fetus to be exposed to flu virus (along with fever, immune reaction, etc.) However, I understand this mentality too:

I'd rather go with the devil I know than the devil I don't know.

[swl73]

Just some added info to consider - Dr. Bob Sears suggests that if you are TTC and don't want there to be a chance of the fetus being exposed to the flu vaccine, that you wait 3 months after getting the vax before TTC.