Pregnant women should get the flu shot, University of Minnesota research says

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - New research from the University of Minnesota offers strong evidence that pregnant women should get vaccinated to better protect their babies from the flu.

“So the big takeaway is any woman of reproductive age who’s considering being pregnant should make sure she’s up to date on her flu vaccine,” said Audrey Dorelien, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School.

Dorelien’s research began six years ago with a question: why do babies born in the winter in the U.S. have higher rates of premature births and lower weights than those born in the summer?

Her theory was that pregnant women are historically less likely to get flu shots. So, she began crunching a lot of numbers.

She reviewed 28 million records from 1989 - when very few pregnant women got flu shots because the risks were unknown - through 2004 - when the rate rose to about a third of pregnant women. She says the difference became clear.

“This is one very interesting finding: so if a mother got exposed or infected with the flu in the first trimester, I saw that was associated with increased risk of neo-natal mortality, so those are infant deaths in the first month after birth,” said Dorelien.

Her study, now published in a journal called Population and Development Review, shows flu vaccinations also protect the developing fetus.

CDC stats show still only half of pregnant women get flu shots. The numbers are rising compared to decades ago, but the goal is 80 percent.

Dorelien hopes her research helps boost those numbers. An expectant mother herself, she is following her own conclusions.

“I’m actually expecting and I’m following my own research advice, so I made sure to get vaccinated as soon as the flu vaccine was available this year,” she said.