Prioritize Pregnant Women to Get Swine Flu Shot, E...(said. The best way to protect a pregnan...),Health

Another expert agreed that moms-to-be should be at the head of the line for the H1N1 shot.

"In addition, because of the greatly increased risk of death for pregnant women from either the seasonal flu or from the H1N1 swine flu, those infected with an influenza virus should [also] be promptly treated with appropriate anti-viral agents," said Dr. Pascal James Imperato, dean and distinguished service professor in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City.

The seasonal flu vaccine will offer no protection against the H1N1 swine flu, Imperato added. "This means that some groups in the population will need to receive more than just one flu shot in order to be protected against all of the influenza strains in circulation," he said.

There's also the lingering memory of the 1976 swine flu vaccination program, during which some 500 Americans came down with a rare neurodegenerative condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which many experts believe was linked to the shot. Twenty-five of those 500 people died.

"The potential for more severe illness and many more deaths caused by this new strain of influenza weighs heavily on our minds -- as does the unfortunate outcome of the 1976 swine flu vaccination program," said CDC spokeswoman Arleen Porcell-Pharr.

But the H1N1 flu vaccine will be very much like seasonal flu vaccines, which have an excellent safety profile, Porcell-Pharr said. "However, no vaccine is 100 percent safe. This vaccine will be no exception," she added.

If the vaccines are recommended for use, those who choose to be inoculated will receive information sheets describing the vaccines' risks and benefits, signs of side effects to look for after vaccination, and information on how to report adverse events, she added.

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