Pregnant Women Are at Elevated Risk for Complications from H1N1 Flu

During seasonal and pandemic influenza outbreaks, pregnant women generally have greater morbidity and mortality than other adults. At the beginning of the recent outbreak of novel H1N1 influenza, the CDC collected individual reports on all confirmed and probable cases and additional information on cases in pregnant women.

Between April 15 and May 18, 2009, the CDC received reports of 31 confirmed and 3 probable cases of novel H1N1 influenza in pregnant women. Symptoms of H1N1 influenza among pregnant women were similar to those among other infected people, except that dyspnea was reported about twice as often. Eleven pregnant women (32%) with H1N1 influenza were hospitalized, compared with 4% of the nonpregnant general population; the overal…