HMC reminds pregnant women importance of receiving seasonal flu vaccine
The Peninsula
Doha: With the annual influenza (flu) season approaching, Hamad Medical Corporation is reminding pregnant women about the importance of getting vaccinated and preventing severe illness due to the flu.
The US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says September and October are generally good times to be vaccinated against seasonal flu and that getting a flu vaccination can reduce a pregnant woman’s risk of being hospitalized with flu by an average of 40 percent.
Dr Huda Al Saleh, Senior Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecologist and Executive Director of Quality & Safety at Women’s Wellness and Research Center explains that vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection in pregnant women by about half and that pregnant women who get a flu vaccine are also helping to protect their babies from flu illness for the first several months after their birth, when they are too young to get vaccinated.