Pregnant women to get high H1N1 priority

PALM BEACH, Fla., July 11 (UPI) -- U.S. health experts say pregnant women should be at the top of the priority list for a swine flu vaccine projected to be ready by October.

Obstetricians are urging any pregnant woman who contracts the H1N1 influenza to immediately contact her doctor, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday.

"They are at higher risk than almost everybody else," Dr. Regan Theiler, an obstetrics expert at the University of Texas told the newspaper. "If we have to ration vaccine, I think pregnant women should be high on the priority list."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a study of hospitalized flu victims found that 6 percent were pregnant women, even though they make up just 1 percent of the population, while children and people with chronic illnesses were also found to be more susceptible than healthy adults to swine flu.

A pregnant Palm Beach County, Fla., woman, age 25, died of the swine flu June 27. Doctors delivered her baby prematurely but in good health, the Sun-Sentinel said.