Pregnant woman loses baby after getting H1N1 shot
ROC Central News Agency
2009/12/04 11:11:51
By Elizabeth Hsu
Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) A 41-year-old woman in her 38th week of pregnancy underwent emergency surgery to have her dead unborn baby removed Thursday, seven days after she was vaccinated against influenza A(H1N1).
It was Taiwan's first case of miscarriage suspected to have resulted from the immunization.
Some experts, however, said after an emergency meeting convened by the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) to discuss the incident that there was insufficient information to determine that the vaccine against the novel flu strain was the culprit and that an investigation had been launched.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director Chou Jih-haw said the woman received the vaccine Nov. 27 and that doctors found that her baby had no heartbeat Dec. 2 during a regular checkup.
The woman, a resident of Taipei City, had suffered two previous miscarriages, Chou pointed out, telling reporters that they were at the moment not aware whether she had been ill before the latest miscarriage or whether the baby had some kind of genetic deficiency.
No cases of vaccination-caused miscarriage have been reported from overseas so far, Chou added.
He noted that 11,847 pregnant women in Taiwan have received the vaccine since the government launched a national immunization program Nov. 1.
The most serious side effect of which the CDC has been informed was a rash, Chou added. He also noted that seven pregnant local women have been hospitalized with A(H1N1) infection since the outbreak began, two of whom have died.
Admitting that the latest incident might deter some other pregnant women from receiving the inoculation, Chou said that after assessing the infection risk, the authorities have decided to keep continuing the national immunization program.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
