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Article: Pregnant women are at high-risk for flu.
- Article from:
- OBGYN & Reproduction Week
- Article date:
- December 29, 2003
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2003 DEC 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Influenza cases among young pregnant women surged at a large public hospital in Dallas, Texas, calling attention to yet another group at serious risk of the flu.
About 80 expectant mothers have been diagnosed with the flu since early October 2003, and more than 60 were treated for a time in the intensive care unit at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, said Jeanne Sheffield, MD, a maternal and fetal medicine specialist.
Pregnancy weakens a woman's immune system, making her more vulnerable to the virus. Only two of the affected women had gotten the flu shot, and they got it just before they became ill, ...