H1N1 vaccine: Counting side effects

science news ^ | 11/2/09 | By Janet Ralof

[Flavius]

Pregnant women are considered at high risk for suffering complications or death from the new H1N1 pandemic swine flu. So they’re near the top of the list for getting vaccinated. A new international study calculates that up to 400 out of every million pregnant women who receive such swine-flu shots will experience a miscarriage within 24 hours.

[republicangel]

What are the statistics on miscarriage just occurring randomly? I know I suffered one many years ago and the doctor told me that 10% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage.

[Flavius]

[secret garden]

It is irresponsible and misleading to post only that much information without the following paragraph.
From the article:
But not BECAUSE of their flu shots.
These miscarriages would have normally occurred even if the moms-to-be had foregone vaccinations. And that’s because the average background miscarriage rate for any given day (among women far enough along to recognize they are pregnant) is about 397. Or so reports a new international analysis, which appeared online October 30, ahead of print, in the Lancet. To see an impact of the vaccine on pregnancy losses, miscarriage rates would have to spike well above that roughly 400-per-million figure, it notes.
If policymakers, physicians and the public don’t understand the magnitude of background rates for diseases and health impacts, they risk inappropriately attributing certain adverse events to vaccines.

[republicangel]

Thank you for reading the article and finding that nugget of information. That is what I had suspected.

[Flavius]

yes its the old first paragraph post conspiracy

[Vendome]

This would seem to indicate a 300% increase in miscarriages due to government approved goo injected into a woman’s body.

[Vendome]

I think the article may be misleading.

[Brugmansian]

Months ago on Flu Forums people were predicting miscarriages due to the vaccine would be the first quack science pushed.

Took a while but here it is.

It will work with some too. Hard to convince some who suffer a miscarriage that a shot a week or two before was not responsible, that miscarriages are, sadly, common and very normal events.

[mysterio]

Non-woo info : CDC

It would almost be funny that the anti-vaccine nutbags are trying to scare pregnant women into getting the real flu instead of the vaccine if people weren't going to die because of it.

The "natural" medicine crowd has lost most of my respect this flu season.

[secret garden]

Did you read it? It seemed fairly straightforward.

[ntmxx]

“A new international study calculates that up to 400 out of every million pregnant women who receive such swine-flu shots will experience a miscarriage within 24 hours.”

Agreed, and not to diminish the myriad problems related to this whole topic, the first question I have is: international where, who conducted these studies and purpose, second what is the break down based upon location and population, and third what are the stats within the U.S. normally, broken down by state, local area and income; for this to have any importance, must be compared to year by years stats over 25 years.