H1N1 swine flu may cause brain damage among exposed unborn babies

Scientists are concerned that women with early-term pregnancies should avoid exposure to the H1N1 swine flu virus at all costs - as the virus appears to disrupt the development of fetal brains.

The H1N1 swine flu virus attacks more than the respiratory systems of its hosts. Scientists have now discovered that the virus interacts negatively with the genes that govern healthy brain development among unborn babies - particularly in the one-month to 6 month pregnancy time period, when fetal brains are being established. “Prenatal viral infection led to altered gene expression in the hippocampus, including autism and schizophrenia candidate genes," Hossein Fatemi, a neuroscientist at the University of Minnesota medical school, told [i]The Times[/i]. Mr. Fatemi's research was conducted on mice, but there is evidence among human victims of children born with increased risk for schizophrenia. "If pregnant women get infected by type-A (H1N1) virus, especially if they are one to six months into their pregnancy, the unborn baby's development can be badly affected. The brains of some unborn babies were totally destroyed after the mother was infected with the flu virus," Dr. Somsak Lohlekha told Thailand's [i]The Nation[/i]. Dr. Lohlekha is the president of the Medical Council, and was citing Mr. Fatemi's report. "It is very important to administer the antiviral immediately to pregnant women even though there are no reports on how the drug would affect unborn babies," Dr. Lohlekha said. "This would be better than letting mother and baby face the risks." The H1N1 swine flu virus has been behaving in particularly aggressive manners, attacking deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu variants and striking the young and the pregnant with particular virulence. Scientists are concerned that its reappearance in the Northern Hemisphere this autumn will have significant health consequences for many people. The new findings suggest that pregnant women - and their unborn babies - are at the highest risk of complications from this still largely unknown virus.