Flu Shot in Pregnancy - Should I get one?

User:

Michel Odent MD

Labor and Birth, Waterbirth, Non-invasive Birth Practices

Michel Odent MD

I am in the 13th week of my first pregnancy and completely divided about taking the flu shot and the H1N1 flu shot this season. My husband recently contracted the flu while on a trip out of the city(we don't know which since it was quite an emergency and he had to start on tamiflu even before getting the blood test). It has been 6 days now since he got high fever. but with Tamiflu he was okay in about 2 days (he completed his 5-day course). So one can say I have been exposed, but I have been taking very high precautions- including washing hands, being in separate rooms, increasing my intake of Vit C, garlic etc, gargling. I am also quite a nutrition freak and am generally above average in eating healthy (self-asessment). I do have a mild sore throat but nothing much to talk about. Yet the danger of contracting the flu looms high and given the way my husband's fever shot up in a matter of an hour, the prospect of being in that situation scares me no end. What do you advice?

 

We can say in retrospect that your husband had a benign flu that lasted 2 days. Nobody knows the name of the virus and nobody knows if it is thanks to the tamiflu that he recovered within two days (very common with the common seasonal flu). In your case it is too late to discuss the issue of vaccination. The only question is to take or not to take tamiflu if suddenly you have similar symptoms. In other words, is the baby in the womb more threatened by the flu or by the antiviral drugs? What is the comparative ratio of benefits to risks in both cases? Nobody knows, because there have never been ’randomised controlled trials’ that would answer this question. Often, in medicine, when we do not know what to do, it is better to do nothing. Promoting health is more fruitful than trying to prevent or to treat specific diseases. This is obviously what you have clearly understood.



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