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In a hospital in England, Fallon Devaney, a 25-year-old mother of four, lies near death from the swine flu. Even more tragic, she is pregnant with her fifth baby, a baby who may never be born. Her family has canceled Christmas while they hold vigil at her side.
Devaney was admitted to the hospital last week with difficulty breathing and swine flu symptoms, and has now developed pneumonia. Doctors put her in a medically induced coma, and have told her mother they may have to take the baby in order to have a chance at saving her life. "If she can't fight it because she's carrying the baby, we may have a very difficult decision to make," her mother told London's Daily Mail.
Still think a flu vaccine is dangerous or useless? During the 2009 swine flu epidemic, 28 pregnant women died from swine flu.
Pregnant women are at much higher risk of serious complications and even death from the flu. Doctors believe that that's for two reasons: First, their lung capacity decreases as their fetus grows, making them less able to deal with any added breathing problems. And their immune system shifts to protecting the baby versus fighting off viruses, so it's that much harder for them to overcome the illness on their own.
There's a lot of fear-mongering out there about vaccines, none of which has been proven. Meanwhile, there are several documented cases of pregnant women and their babies dying from complications of the swine flu. Is it really worth gambling with your life or your baby's?
Image via USACE Europe District/Flickr
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Comments (25)
Yep. It's worth it. Still won't get a flu vaccine. The manufacturers of the vaccine, on the paper insert in the box, say pregnant women should NOT get the vaccine unless absolutely necessary.
Miscarriage rates were up 600% last year! That sure ruins the argument that miscarriage rates don't change regardless of how many women get a flu shot. Something caused the miscarriage rates to go up last year.
While it is tragic anytime someone dies, 28 women is not an epidemic! How many millions of women were pregnant? How many died from other diseases? How many died from accidents while pregnant? How many women died that weren't pregnant?? It would be interesting to see ALL the facts. Maybe 1 women died who wasn't pregnant, and maybe 50 died who weren't pregnant? Let's see all the info.
I'm due in less than a week, and there is no way in hell I would get vaccinated. I wash my hands like a mad woman, only go to stores early in the morning, wipe the carts down, and keep away from people as much as possible when I go to the doctors. That's worked for me for the past 8 years...
Her and her baby will be in my prayers.
That number is so small that I'm not worried about not being vaccinated against the flu. I don't plan on getting the shot anytime. It's horrible that those women had to die, but really, more pregnant women die because other pregnancy related issues than of the flu.
She isn't dying because she didn't get vaccinated, she is dying because she got sick. The flu vaccine is one of the WORST because it just doesn't work. What is happening to her is extremely unfortunate, but she probably would have gotten sick anyway. Most of the people I know who get the flu, get it immediately following vaccination. As far "fear-mongering" goes, that is exactly what the medical establishment uses to convince people to vaccinate. Vaccines HAVE been proven to be dangerous for many people, they have NOT been thoroughly tested and have NOT been proven to be beneficial for the general population. This article is just another example of said fear-mongering.
I'm pregnant and the flu shot isn't coming anywhere near anyone in my family. I never get the flu shot and I never get the flu, and can't remember the last time I was sick with anything else either. I was pregnant over flu season with my son too, and never got sick. As a PP said, 28 women is not an epidemic and it's not worth it to me to put all the other junk from the shot in my body. I'll keep taking care of myself the way I always have, and I like my odds of staying healthy.
can you guarantee my that she wouldnt have gotten swine flu if she had gotten the vaccine? you cant and until there is a 100% guarantee you also need to look at VAERS, 42 people are believed to have died last year as a result of the H1N1 vaccine*they had severe reactions to the shot and died..the CDC is still determining..* sooo sounds to me like I will take my chances with not getting vax'd... just saying the numbers dont lie...
Where are the articles where a pregnant women came down with swine flu and survived? There are far more who survived then were harmed so why don't we see the complete statistics? This is really poor journalism. Looks like someone needed to meet their column quota.