It’s getting to be that time of the year again – to get a flu shot or not to get a flu shot?  According to many experts, there are certain populations of women who should certainly get a flu shot, particularly women who are pregnant. On the other hand, critics of the shot maintain that there is no guarantee that a flu shot will provide protection from the virus and that there are many potential side effects that outweigh the potential benefits a flu shot may provide.
According to Dr. Katherine Taber, who was quoted in an article in the Baltimore Sun about this matter, pregnant women are quite conflicted when it comes to whether or not they should get the shot. Yet, health officials have listed pregnant women as being top priority for flu vaccine and have been placed at the top of the list for receiving the swine flu vaccine.

“It’s tough. They’re worried about the safety of the vaccine because it hasn’t had a ton of testing,” she said. “They’re asking if Tylenol is OK and I’m telling them they have to get this new shot. The risk-benefit says the vaccine is safer [as compared to getting the H1N1 virus] – take the vaccine. But they’re skeptical.”

Of course, facing skepticism in light of a new vaccine is nothing new. In addition, only about one in every three Americans currently gets a seasonal flu shot, with the rates actually being lower among those groups of people who are at the greatest risk of facing complications resulting from the flu. In fact, only about one in five children gets a vaccination and the rate of vaccination is even lower with pregnant women. So, convincing pregnant women to take a relatively new flu vaccination will likely prove to be quite difficult.

At the same time, the risks associated with the H1N1 virus are quite real. In fact, experts believe about half of the people in the United States might come down with the bug and that about 90,000 of them will become seriously ill. Seasonal flu, on the other hand, kills about 36,000 people each year throughout the United States, with many of them being elderly. Approximately 200,000 people are hospitalized each year due to illness related to seasonal flu. When it comes to the swine flu, however, pregnant women and children are considered to be the highest risk group. To date, over 500 people have died from the virus throughout the United States.

“For the most part, we did hear a lot of hesitancy expressed around the 2009 H1N1 vaccine – concern among some of the moms about, for instance, the newness of it and the speed with which it’s being developed,” said Kris Sheedy, who is the director of communications for the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “Some of them used the word ‘guinea pig’ – ‘I don’t want myself or my child to be a guinea pig.’

“It really did underscore the need for us to get the message out that every year, we develop new flu vaccines because the virus is ever-changing. This goes on every year, so essentially this 2009 H1N1 vaccine is basically a normal flu vaccine with a different strain.”

The following is the list of highest priority groups for obtaining the H1N1 flu vaccinations:

•Pregnant women

•People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months old

•Health care workers and emergency medical personnel

•Children 6 months to 4 years old

•Children ages 5 through 18 who have chronic medical conditions