The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said Tamiflu is not harmful to unborn children. The announcement came after a pregnant woman with swine flu who refused to take the medicine died on Sunday.
“There is no evidence or data showing that anti-viral medications or vaccines are harmful to pregnant women or unborn babies,” DOH Deputy Minister Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.
Chang, who also serves as deputy chief of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), made the comments after the 23-year-old woman died, along with her unborn baby.
‘NO EVIDENCE’
The woman, from Taitung developed a fever last Tuesday and sought treatment at the Guanshan branch of Tzu Chi Hospital on Thursday after her symptoms worsened.
She tested positive for the new strain of the A(H1N1) virus commonly called swine flu, Taitung County health officials said.
The woman, who was eight months pregnant, declined to take Tamiflu as she feared it could hurt the baby.
She was transferred to the Taitung branch of Mackay Memorial Hospital on Friday, where tests again confirmed that she had swine flu.
Believing Tamiflu to be harmful to unborn children, the woman continued to refuse the medicine and her health deteriorated rapidly.
A postmortem lab test by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that the woman was the nation’s 17th swine flu fatality.
“We feel deep regret over the deaths of this woman and her unborn child,” Chang said. “While some pregnant women are reluctant to take anti-viral medications or receive vaccines for fear of hurting their babies, such concerns are unfounded because there is no evidence showing [negative] effects.”
Pregnant women are at high-risk of developing severe symptoms if infected with swine flu.
OUTBREAK SLOWS
Earlier in the day, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) said the swine flu outbreak was showing signs of subsiding.
“The slowing trend is encouraging, indicating that the ‘325’ policy introduced by the Ministry of Education to cancel classes [in the case of outbreaks among students] has been effective in helping to contain the disease,” Lin said.
Under the “325” policy, any class in which two students develop flu-like symptoms within three days should cancel lessons for five days.
“We were worried that school starting again in early September after summer break would escalate the outbreak, but developments over the past two weeks show that our ‘325’ prevention strategy is working well and that schools at all levels have been following the rule,” Lin said.
He urged the public to remain cautious, however, by washing their hands frequently. This applies even more so to people in high-risk groups, he said.
Meanwhile, the CECC said two more people had been hospitalized with swine flu as of yesterday morning, bringing the total number of H1N1 hospitalizations countrywide to 271.
Forty-eight patients are in hospital at the moment, while the rest have recovered.
While the outbreak has shown signs of abating, further observation will be needed to track the outbreak’s development, CECC officials said.
Also See: Swine flu has not mutated, WHO says
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