How dangerous is the flu for mother and baby?

According to pharmacist Le Bich Giang (Safpo/Potec Vaccination System), seasonal flu is a respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus. The disease is highly contagious, especially in people with weak immune systems, including pregnant women.

Seasonal flu is not the common cold, it comes on suddenly with a variety of symptoms including fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, cough and sore throat.

Influenza can lead to a variety of complications ranging from mild to severe. Sinusitis and ear infections are examples of moderate complications caused by influenza. Pneumonia is a serious flu complication that can result from influenza virus infection alone or from a combination of influenza virus and bacteria.

Other serious complications that may occur include myocarditis, encephalitis or myositis, and multiple organ failure (such as respiratory failure and kidney failure).

So why does pregnancy increase the risk of complications from the flu? According to pharmacist Le Bich Giang, pregnant women have many changes in their bodies, especially hormonal changes, and their immune systems are weakened compared to normal people, making the body's resistance to disease weaker, and the pregnant woman's body is especially sensitive to pathogens.

In pregnant women, the flu is often more severe and lasts longer than in normal people. On average, the flu lasts 3-5 days for normal people, but in pregnant women it can last longer (7-10 days).

Severe influenza can cause pneumonia in pregnant women. Pneumonia in pregnant women is more dangerous than in the general population and carries a higher risk of hospitalization. Some studies have shown that pregnant women with influenza are twice as likely to be hospitalized as non-pregnant women.

For the fetus, the flu virus not only puts the fetus at risk of birth defects (when the flu virus enters the fetus, it affects the development of the fetus in the first 3 months of pregnancy), but also when the mother has a high fever combined with the toxicity of the virus, it can also stimulate uterine contractions, causing miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth.

The best way to reduce the risk of seasonal flu and its potential serious complications, according to pharmacist Le Bich Giang, is to get a flu vaccine every year. This is considered the most optimal measure.

Flu vaccination during pregnancy (at any stage of pregnancy) will bring about 3 positive effects: Helps prevent flu and reduce flu complications for the mother; prevents risks to the fetus; especially protects the baby immediately after birth. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that pregnant women are the highest priority group for seasonal flu vaccination.

Vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of acute respiratory infections due to influenza by about 50% and reduce the risk of hospitalization for influenza by an average of 40% in pregnant women.

Regarding the protective effects on the fetus: Flu vaccination reduces the risk of stillbirth by 51%, reduces the rate of premature birth by 25%, and reduces the risk of infant hospitalization due to flu by 72%.

Newborns are at high risk of getting the flu and developing a severe case, but they can’t get the flu vaccine until they’re 6 months old. That’s why it’s important for women to get the flu vaccine before and during pregnancy to develop antibodies that can be passed to the fetus through the placenta. These antibodies will help protect the baby from getting the flu in the first months after birth.

In Vietnam, the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health recommends that vaccines can protect women both during and after pregnancy, and that vaccination of mothers helps reduce the risk of influenza infection in children by half until they are 4 months old.

The Ministry of Health recommends that mothers should get the flu vaccine every year and can be vaccinated at any stage of pregnancy, preferably before the peak of the flu season. Women after giving birth, even if breastfeeding, can still get vaccinated.

However, if mothers do not get vaccinated early before the peak of flu season, they can still get vaccinated during and after the flu season. If the mother has another medical condition that increases the risk of flu complications, such as asthma or heart disease, she should consider getting vaccinated before the flu season begins for optimal protection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends that inactivated influenza vaccines are safe for pregnant women and there is a lot of evidence that influenza vaccination is safe for pregnant women and their fetuses.