French experience of 2009 A/H1N1v influenza in pregnant women.
BACKGROUND
The first reports on the pandemic influenza 2009 A/H1N1v from the USA, Mexico, and Australia indicated that this disease was associated with a high mortality in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to describe and compare the characteristics of severe critically ill and non-severe pregnant women with 2009 A/H1N1v-related illness in France.


RESULTS
A national registry was created to screen pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed 2009 A/H1N1v influenza. Three hundred and fifteen patients from 46 French hospitals were included: 40 patients were admitted to intensive care units (severe outcomes), 111 were hospitalized in obstetric or medical wards (moderate outcomes), and 164 were outpatients (mild outcomes). The 2009 A/H1N1v influenza illness occurred during all pregnancy trimesters, but most women (54%), notably the severe patients (70%), were in the third trimester. Among the severe patients, twenty (50%) underwent mechanical ventilation, and eleven (28%) were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Three women died from A/H1N1v influenza. We found a strong association between the development of a severe outcome and both co-existing illnesses (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-11.8) and a delay in oseltamivir treatment after the onset of symptoms (>3 or 5 days) (adjusted OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 1.9-12.1 and 61.2, 95% CI; 14.4-261.3, respectively). Among the 140 deliveries after 22 weeks of gestation known to date, 19 neonates (14%) were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, mainly for preterm delivery, and two neonates died. None of these neonates developed 2009 A/H1N1v infection.


CONCLUSIONS
This series confirms the high incidence of complications in pregnant women infected with pandemic A/H1N1v observed in other countries but depicts a lower overall maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity than indicated in the USA or Australia. Moreover, our data demonstrate the benefit of early oseltamivir treatment in this specific population.
Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Cochin, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
Grégory
G
Dubar
Elie
E
Azria
Antoine
A
Tesnière
Hervé
H
Dupont
Camille
C
Le Ray
Thomas
T
Baugnon
Sophie
S
Matheron
Dominique
D
Luton
Jean-Christophe
JC
Richard
Odile
O
Launay
Vassilis
V
Tsatsaris
François
F
Goffinet
Alexandre
A
Mignon
D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D012042:Registries