Flu outbreak alarms pregnant women

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A pregnant Noblesville woman died from H1N1 virus complications this week. The Hamilton County Coroner believes her pregnancy made her more susceptible to illness.

Pregnant women are in the at-risk group for H1N1 and urged to get a vaccine. But the shortage, which has hit Central Indiana, has doctors fielding calls with few answers.

Dr. Barb Matakevich OB/GYN said her group alone has close to 260 pregnant patients. Her goal, right now, is to prevent them from panicking.

"Well, we did receive vaccine from the county, from Marion County. However, we did not receive the number of doses that we anticipated, so we have not been able to vaccinate our entire pregnant population. The number of calls we're receiving and the variety of calls are tremendous. And so, we're just trying to keep people calm and educate them so that we can try and handle this pandemic," said Dr. Matakevich.

Matakevich believes the 24 hour fever-free rule is a bit deceiving because that person or child may have a lingering cough and are still infectious.

She's telling her patients to get the vaccine at any clinic that's offering them.