Swine flu strikes pregnant mums

Three pregnant women with swine flu have been hospitalised in Northland this season, and health professionals are being warned that expectant mothers are at increased risk of severe illness from the virus.
Northland's medical officer of health Jonathan Jarman said he was concerned that the region's only confirmed hospitalised cases of the H1N1 influenza strain were the three pregnant women in July.
Pregnant women who experience flu-like symptoms should immediately contact their doctors for advice, Dr Jarman said.
For most people, swine flu was not severe and the illness was already widespread in Northland, he said.
"There are a lot more cases in the community than we will ever know about ... but I am concerned that, at the start of the flu season, all the [hospitalised] cases have been pregnant women."
He has sent an alert to all Northland health professionals warning them of an increased risk that expectant mothers with swine flu could become seriously ill.
Women's immune systems were lowered during pregnancy, leaving them more susceptible to infectious illnesses of all kinds, Dr Jarman said.
The Northland situation backs up Australian, New Zealand and United States studies that indicate pregnancy increases the risk of a serious flu episode.
Compared with non-pregnant women of the same age, expectant mothers had a 7 per cent higher chance of becoming severely ill with swine flu.
Of that group, 13 per cent were likely to become ill in the second half of the pregnancy.

"The message we need to get out to everybody is that there are still free vaccinations available and it's not too late to be vaccinated for seasonal flu. We especially recommend it for those who are at risk," Dr Jarman said.
Pregnant women join the ranks of the severely overweight, the very young and people with underlying health problems as being at considerable risk.
"If you're in one of those groups and feel unwell, see the doctor," Dr Jarman said.
The flu virus "did not appear" to harm an unborn baby, he said.
"We normally don't recommend vaccinations in pregnancy, although there is plenty of evidence that they have been given to expectant mothers with no harmful effect."
The period for which people in the at-risk group can receive a free vaccination had been extended and there were still supplies available, he said.
In the meantime, effective ways people could avoid the illness and slow its spread were to be stringent about hand hygiene, to cover coughs and sneezes, and stay home if they were unwell.
A 51-year-old man who died suddenly in July also had swine flu, but the coroner has yet to rule on the cause of death.
The man had not been hospitalised before he died and was tested for swine flu only after his death.
Laboratory testing for H1N1 is not done in Northland and takes about a week.