Getting the flu while pregnant can lead to complications that impact your pregnancy, but taking low doses of aspirin may help reduce them, a new study suggests.
- Flu infections during pregnancy can resemble preeclampsia, a complication that causes inflammation of the aorta and blood vessels.
- The fetuses and placentas of mice infected with influenza A were smaller than those of uninfected mice. But those given low doses of aspirin every day had fewer complications.
- Despite these promising results, be careful, it is not recommended to take medication without consulting a health professional during pregnancy.
Pregnant women who are affected by the flu may experience a complication quite similar to preeclampsia. In fact, inflammation of the aorta and blood vessels can occur and reduce blood flow to the placenta.
With low-dose aspirin being one of the possible treatments for pre-eclampsia, RMIT postdoctoral senior researcher Dr Stella Liong wanted to know if this type of prescription could also reduce complications from flu during pregnancy.
Their findings were presented in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.
Aspirin reduces complications in expectant mothers with flu
The scientist and her colleagues John O’Leary (Trinity College Dublin) and Doug Brooks (University of South Australia) noticed that the fetuses and placentas of mice infected with influenza A were smaller than those of uninfected expectant mothers. Markers of low blood oxygen levels and poor blood vessel development were also found in the fetuses.
The tests then revealed that pregnant, flu-infected mice given low doses of aspirin daily had less inflammation, better fetal development and greater offspring survival.
While these results are promising, the research team reminds pregnant women of the importance of consulting a doctor before taking new medications during pregnancy.
Flu: With pregnancy, the virus can escape from the lungs
Based on previous studies, Stavros Selemidis confirms that influenza can have consequences on the course of a pregnancy. “We thought that the influenza virus just stayed in the lungs, but during pregnancy it escapes from the lungs into the rest of the body. This infection could lead to cardiovascular disease later in life, but also cardiovascular disease in the offspring later in life.”
“There are long-term implications for both mother and fetus, and aspirin may be a simple solution to prevent this flu-associated illness,” adds Doug Brooks in a communicated.
