Expectant and new mums to be offered flu vaccine for free

Published: Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Pregnant women are to be offered the seasonal flu vaccine free for the first time this winter as experts say the swine flu virus remains a threat.

Healthy pregnant women and new mothers up to six weeks after giving birth are being urged to get the vaccine, which protects against swine flu and all other strains circulating.

Launching the annual flu vaccination campaign yesterday, public health specialist Dr Brenda Corcoran said: "We predict that the swine flu virus will be the dominant strain of virus this winter and there may also be other flu viruses around.

"The seasonal vaccine protects against swine flu and other common flu strains . . . it can be given at any stage of pregnancy and will also protect the baby."

Pregnant women have traditionally avoided medicines unless absolutely necessary but the message is that it is safe and that the virus leaves them at risk. Pregnant women were four times more likely to be admitted to hospital than the general population if they caught swine flu.

Other groups urged to have the vaccine remain unchanged and include people aged over 65 years, those with long-term illness, healthcare workers and carers.

There were 26 deaths from swine flu in the Republic last winter when a pandemic was declared but the level of infection fell as the special vaccine was rolled out. The pandemic alert was lifted this summer and the virus turned out to be mostly mild.

To read the full article click here

This article was found in the Irish Independent on the 7th October, 2010

P.S - You will be redirected to an external site. NWCI accepts no liability for advertising or links to external, or third party websites. Links do not imply any endorsement, and we do not give any representation regarding the quality, safety, suitability, or reliability of any advertising links or images. We are not responsible for content on external sites, embedded content, or frames