WHO: Pregnant women infected with H1N1 virus experience fatal illnesses

GENEVA The World Health Organization on Friday stated that research — conducted in the United States and published July 29 in The Lancet — outlining increased risk of severe or fatal illness in pregnant women when infected with the H1N1 pandemic virus has been observed in several other countries experiencing widespread transmission of the virus.

Women are at particular risk during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. An increased risk of fetal death or spontaneous abortions in infected women has also been reported. Evidence from previous pandemics further supports the conclusion that pregnant women are at heightened risk, WHO added.

WHO strongly recommends that, in areas where infection with the H1N1 virus is widespread, pregnant women, and the clinicians treating them, be alert to symptoms of influenza-like illness. Treatment with the antiviral drug oseltamivir should be administered as soon as possible after symptom onset. As the benefits of oseltamivir are greatest when administered within 48 hours after symptom onset, clinicians should initiate treatment immediately and not wait for the results of laboratory tests.

WHO has further recommended that, when pandemic vaccines become available, health authorities should consider making pregnant women a priority group for immunization.