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Pregnant Women - FAQs:
Is it safe for me to take an antiviral medicine for flu while I am pregnant?
Yes. At this time, there are no studies suggesting harm to a pregnant woman or her unborn baby if she takes antiviral medicine. The flu can cause severe illness and even death in pregnant women. Taking antiviral medicine can help prevent these complications.
What should I do if I am pregnant and have a fever?
Fever should be treated right away. It can cause problems for the pregnant woman and her unborn child. Acetaminophen (Tylenol®) is best for a pregnant woman to use to lower a fever.
What should I do if I am pregnant and think I have the flu?
If a pregnant woman thinks she has flu, she should call her doctor right away. If needed, he or she will prescribe an antiviral medicine that treats the flu. The medicine is most helpful if it is started soon (within the first 48 hours) after the pregnant woman becomes sick.
Not everyone with flu in the general population needs to get antiviral medicines. Flu antiviral medicines should be used mostly to treat people with the flu who have a condition that increases their chances for serious problems from flu, such as pregnant women. These medicines are also used to treat people with flu who have more severe flu illness or who are in the hospital.
Clinical judgment is needed to decide if a person should be treated with antiviral medicines.
How do you treat pregnant women if they have the flu?
Pregnant women are at higher risk for severe complications and death from seasonal influenza.
Treatment with oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) or zanamivir (Relenza®) is recommended for pregnant women with suspected or confirmed influenza and can be taken during any trimester of pregnancy. The duration of antiviral treatment is 5 days.
Can family members of a pregnant woman receive the nasal spray vaccine?
Pregnant women should not receive nasal spray for the seasonal flu vaccine, but it is okay for a pregnant woman to be around a family or other close contact who has received nasal spray flu vaccine. The nasal spray vaccine can be used in healthy people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant and in women after they deliver, even if they are nursing.
What type of seasonal flu vaccine should pregnant women receive?
There are two types of influenza vaccines. One is the inactivated influenza vaccine (“flu-shot”) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. This is the type of vaccine that Advisory Committee Immunization Practices (ACIP). recommends pregnant women should receive.
The other type of influenza vaccine, “nasal - spray” influenza vaccine (sometimes called LAIV for “live attenuated influenza vaccine”) is made with live weakened influenza virus. The live attenuated (weakened) influenza vaccine is not recommended by the ACIP for use in pregnancy.
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