Pregnant women are a risk group, since they are more likely to develop serious complications if they get the infection.
The flu vaccine is safe during pregnancy and both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) and the Ministry of Health, recommend influenza vaccination in any trimester of pregnancy. We give you three reasons that will convince you to get a flu shot if you are pregnant.
1) The flu increases the risk of hospitalization
The flu is a mild infection in most cases, but during pregnancy the risk of hospitalization increases up to eight times. The hormonal changes that occur make pregnant women are more likely to develop a serious illness such as pneumonia, bronchitis and other lung diseases. The risk is even greater if the mother suffers from asthma or diabetes or if she is going to give birth in the winter months.
The vaccine reduces flu cases by 70% in pregnant women and if it is spread, it reduces the risk of respiratory complications.
In Babies and more It is recommended that all pregnant women get a flu shot 2) The vaccine prevents complications in pregnancy
Influenza infection could affect your pregnant baby by increasing the risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, such as the baby born prematurely, with low birth weight or birth by caesarean section.
3) The vaccine also protects your baby
When the mother is vaccinated during pregnancy, immunization will protect the baby during the first weeks of life, thanks to antibodies of maternal origin that pass through the placenta. Thus, protects the baby from infection during the first six months of life, until I can get the vaccine. Being immunized reduces by 80% the number of hospitalizations for infection in infants under 6 months.
In Babies and more, the 2018-19 flu season begins: we tell you everything you need to know about the vaccine in children and pregnant womenDoes not produce autism in the baby: false myth
One of the false myths surrounding the flu vaccine in pregnancy is that it causes autism in the baby. But it is completely false. A mega study conducted with almost 200 thousand born in ten years, which concluded that it is not associated with an increased risk of developing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for future children.
The only women who can't get a flu shot in pregnancy they are: 1) those with egg allergy, with hypersensitivity to egg proteins, or who had a previous severe allergic reaction to inactivated influenza vaccines; and 2) those who are going through an acute illness with a high fever, who should wait for the symptoms to remit to apply it.
