Most pregnant women across the country take extremely good care of themselves for the health of their baby. This particular woman did exactly that, which was why she asked her physician for a flu shot this season. But the physician said it was not a good idea.
CNN reports on the woman's miscarriage and the fight for her life.
After the woman’s doctor ruled against getting a flu shot, she contracted the flu. He had said that he was ambivalent to give a flu shot during a patient’s fist trimester.
“The couple did not know that this guidance runs counter to federal health recommendations. Any pregnant woman should get a flu shot to protect against serious complications as soon as the yearly vaccine becomes available in her area, advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website,” according to CNN.
When she contracted the flu, she had breathing issues and two days later this led to the miscarriage of her baby contracting the flu. She was twenty weeks pregnant. But her nightmare did not end there. The complications have now kept her in the hospital for weeks as she fights for her life.
The woman has been on a ventilator for over two weeks now. Her husband told CNN, “Her right lung collapsed over the weekend. She underwent surgery to receive a treatment called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ECMO is a therapy that provides heart-lung bypass support and circulates blood through an artificial lung back to the body.”
The doctors who are now caring for the woman told CNN that if the woman’s primary doctor had originally given her the flu vaccine she would not be in such a dire position. “She's being cared for, and her status is still very, very tenuous. If she had, had the flu vaccine, she probably wouldn't be here in this state,” according to her current doctors.
