At two-months pregnant and possibly infected with H1N1, Jordana Simms decided to take the anti-viral Tamiflu to protect her and her unborn child.
Sick in early November, while public debate whirled around the safety of drugs to deal with the influenza pandemic, the Sylvan Lake resident was scared.
“I’ve had a few friends who opted just to suffer it out just because they were past what they figured was the worst part.
“There’s enough complications in the first trimester, so I wasn’t going to risk it,” said the mother of two.
Two days later Simms, 23, was on the mend, and an ultrasound showed her unborn baby was fine.
With the third H1N1 wave expected this winter, Simms is not afraid to share her opinion on antivirals, a hot topic on message boards and birth clubs online.
“If you trust your doctor, listen and take their advice because that’s the only thing that got us through. If I had sat on the fence any longer who knows what could have happened,” said Simms about the danger of flu complications for women and their fetuses.
“Trust your gut.”
Alberta Health Services recommends Tamiflu or Relenza for all pregnant women who develop influenza-like symptoms in their second and third trimesters or within four weeks after giving birth.
Immunization is also recommended.
At first Simms and her doctor thought it was just a bad cold or flu.
“I just laid out on the couch. I couldn’t move. I was having a hard time breathing. Everything felt swollen. I couldn’t open my eyes. I just felt horrible.”
But by the second night her husband Tom Simms could hear her straining to breath.
“It felt like someone was sitting on my chest.”
That night they went to the emergency department at Red Deer’s hospital. She was given a prescription for Tamiflu and before she filled it the next day, she called her doctor who said it was time to take the drug.
Simms is due to give birth June 18.
Twelve people with flu-like symptoms visited Red Deer’s emergency ward between Dec. 21 and 27.
Alberta Health Services will continue to hold public immunization clinics in the new year. None have so far been scheduled for Red Deer.
As of Dec. 23, a total of 108,450 people have been immunized at AHS clinics in Central Alberta.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com