# 3558
As today’s ACIP meeting gets underway to discuss vaccines, and vaccine prioritization, we get this report from the Lancet Medical journal quantifying a bit something that we already knew.
That pregnancy is a serious complicating factor when it comes to pandemic influenza.
The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 29 July 2009
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61304-0
H1N1 2009 influenza virus infection during pregnancy in the USA
Original Text
Denise J Jamieson MD a , Margaret A Honein PhD b, Sonja A Rasmussen MD b, Jennifer L Williams MSN b, David L Swerdlow MD c, Matthew S Biggerstaff MPH c, Stephen Lindstrom PhD c, Janice K Louie MD e, Cara M Christ MD f, Susan R Bohm MS g, Vincent P Fonseca MD h, Kathleen A Ritger MD i, Daniel J Kuhles MD j, Paula Eggers RN k, Hollianne Bruce MPH l, Heidi A Davidson MPH m, Emily Lutterloh MD d n, Meghan L Harris MPH o, Colleen Burke MSN p, Noelle Cocoros MPH q, Lyn Finelli DrPH c, Kitty F MacFarlane CNM a, Bo Shu MD c, Sonja J Olsen PhD c, the Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Pregnancy Working Group‡
Summary
(Excerpt)
Findings
From April 15 to May 18, 2009, 34 confirmed or probable cases of pandemic H1N1 in pregnant women were reported to CDC from 13 states. 11 (32%) women were admitted to hospital.
The estimated rate of admission for pandemic H1N1 influenza virus infection in pregnant women during the first month of the outbreak was higher than it was in the general population (0·32 per 100 000 pregnant women, 95% CI 0·13—0·52 vs 0·076 per 100 000 population at risk, 95% CI 0·07—0·09).
Between April 15 and June 16, 2009, six deaths in pregnant women were reported to the CDC; all were in women who had developed pneumonia and subsequent acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring mechanical ventilation.
Interpretation
Pregnant women might be at increased risk for complications from pandemic H1N1 virus infection. These data lend support to the present recommendation to promptly treat pregnant women with H1N1 influenza virus infection with anti-influenza drugs.
