Drugs like Tamiflu safe for mums-to-be.
The safety of flue treatment drugs Tamiflu, Relenza and Flumadine has been confirmed.
The retrospective study analysed the medical records of 8, 239 pregnant women who gave birth at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Texas between 2003 and 2008. Of these, only 239 women were treated with Tamiflu, Relenza or Flumadine.
It was found that those treated with flu drugs showed no increase in conditions such as pre-eclampsia, pre-term birth and gestational diabetes. There was also no difference in birth weight, or rates of medical conditions amongst the babies of flu-treatment mums.
Only 13% of the 239 flu sufferers took the medication in the first trimester, a critical time for foetal development.
Nevertheless, lead author of the paper, Dr Laura Greer, said that it “provides important safety data to guide clinicians and patients in treating influenza in pregnancy”.
