Pregnant teenager dies from swine flu

15^th October 2009 - A pregnant teenager from the Scottish borders has died after contracting swine flu.

The Scottish government says that, due to the sudden nature of this death, a report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

There is no suggestion that the woman had any underlying health problems.

The Scottish Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, told the BBC that “For confidentiality reasons we can't go into the background of the case, but this was a very young woman who was pregnant. We know from medical experts ... that pregnant women are at higher risk of developing complications.”

Why are pregnant women more at risk?

“The vast majority of pregnant women who get swine flu will be fine,” says University College London consultant obstetrician, Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. But, he adds: “Pregnant women are more likely to get complications from flu. They are between four and seven times more likely to end up in intensive care.”

So why are pregnant women more at risk of complications? Patrick O’Brien lists three principle reasons:

•         In pregnancy the immune system is suppressed; that makes a pregnant woman more vulnerable to infection

•         In the later stages of pregnancy, as the baby gets bigger, the uterus squashes up under the diaghram making it more difficult to expand the lungs

•         During pregnancy there is more water in the body’s tissues, including in lung tissues

“You can’t breathe as freely as you normally would,” says Patrick O’Brien.

Pregnant women urged to get vaccinated

In a statement issued by the Scottish Government, Nicola Sturgeon said that pregnant women “will be among the priority groups for vaccination when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available later this month.

"I would urge all pregnant women to get vaccinated to ensure the maximum protection for themselves and their babies.

"While there is no evidence to suggest that the virus is becoming any more dangerous for the public at large, this tragic death highlights that some groups are at greater risk and should take up the offer of vaccination."

As the announcement of the teenager’s death was made, Health Protection Scotland published statistics showing a sharp rise in the number of cases of swine flu. It said it estimated that 12,500 people had contracted H1N1 in the past week, up from 6,800 in the previous week.

64 people were admitted to Scottish hospitals with swine flu last week.