What is seasonal flu?
Seasonal flu is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It occurs very year, usually in the winter. The flu is more than just a common cold ;it can be a very serious illness that can cause harm to you and your baby. You can get flu safe with a flu vaccine that helps protect pregnant women and their baby.
What harm can seasonal flu do?
People often think that flu is just a bad cold, but in reality flu is usually much worse: symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, aching muscles, a cough and a sore throat. A flu is a virus, therefore antibiotics will not help treat it.
Women at any stage of their pregnancy are at greater risk of developing complications of seasonal flu. Getting the flu can result in a stay in hospital, and in severe cases can cause death.
Why should pregnant women get the flu vaccine?
It is recommended that all pregnant women get the seasonal flu vaccine at any stage of pregnancy. This is because pregnant women are more prone to complications from flu, which can cause very serious illness for both the mother and her baby. Importantly, having the the vaccination when pregnant helps protect their baby from flu in the first few months of life.
There are several reasons for this:
- During pregnancy, a woman’s natural immunity to infection is reduced in order to prevent the baby being rejected and so they may be more likely to get serioursly ill they get flu.
- As the womb increases in size, the lungs get squashed, so the women may not be able to breathe as deeply as before.This increases the risk of infections, such as pneumonia, that can follow flu.
- The H1N1 virus (which was known as ‘swine flu’) is now one of the seasonal flu viruses. H1N1 seems to affect younger people in particular (older people already have some immunity to it), so pregnant women make up a bigger proportion of those with complications than is the case of other strains of flu.
I am pregnant, haven’t had the vaccination and think I may now have the flu. What I should do?
As you won’t know which flu virus has caused your flu, you should then have the vaccination to protect your against the other flu viruses as soon as the illness has gone.
Is the vaccine safe and effective in pregnancy?
YES- The vaccine has been given routinely to pregnant women in other European countries and in the USA for many years. Research on the safety and effectiveness of the flu vaccine in pregnancy has shown that I can be given at any stage of pregnancy and that there is no evidence of problems for pregnant women or their babies.
Studies show that seasonal flu vaccination during pregnancy will provide immunity against flu to babies for the first few months of their life.
How quickly does the flu vaccine work?
It normally takes between 10-14 days to develop protection after the vaccine. This means that there is still the chance of catching flu just after receiving the vaccine, so try to get it as as early as possible to minimize the risk.
Washing your hands regularly also helps to reduce the chances of catching flu.
Can the vaccine give you flu?
NO- The jab does not contain any live virus, so it cannot give you the flu. Occasionally, some people get flu-like symptoms after having the jab- so you might get slight temperature and aching muscles for a couple of days afterwards. This is a common reaction after any vaccine. Similarly, your arm may feel a bit sore where you were injected, a relatively minor discomfort compared to having the flu itself. Any other reactions are rare- flu vaccines are very safe, trusted and well tested.
Do I need a flu vaccine if have had one before?
YES- The jab varies slightly each year to match the strains expected to cause most infections in the coming season. Even if you have had a jab before, you will probably not be protected against all virus strains in this year’s vaccine and an additional dose will just boost any existing immunity.
Dr Efterpi Tingi
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
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