Education of Iranian Pregnant Women About Prevention of Influenza A (original) (raw)

International Journal of Women's Health and Reproduction Sciences

Introduction Type A influenza is an upper respiratory tract disease caused by the influenza A (H1N1) virus. The most common symptoms of this disease are sudden onset of fever, chills, cough, sore throat, malaise, headache, muscle and joint pain that can be accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. Such symptoms may emerge in unusual and sometimes severe forms in certain groups such as pregnant women, infants, the elderly and people with immune deficiencies. Complications include pneumonia, sinusitis, otitis, carditis, pericarditis, and even neurological complications such as acute encephalitis and seizures (1). The disease is transmitted through coughing, sneezing and contact with contaminated surfaces. Patients are infected from the day before the symptoms start until the fever stops; and up to 7 days after the onset of symptoms is considered the period in which the disease can be spread (2). High-risk groups for influenza A are people over 65 years, children less than 5 years, pregnant women, people with chronic medical illnesses (such as asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease) and immunocompromised people (3). Immunological and physiological changes happening during pregnancy affect internal systems including the respiratory and cardiovascular system, which increase the pregnant women's risk of infection and complications (4). The risks of hospitalization and maternal mortality, preterm delivery, stillbirth, neonatal death, and low birth weight are higher in the pregnant women with the influenza (5). Studies have reported that the case fatality rate in the pregnant women was between 20%-50% during the 1918 to 1957 pandemics (6). In the 2009 pandemic, the case fatality rate in the pregnant women was 5% while the population of pregnant women with the disease was only 1% of the whole patients (7). In Iran, among 3672 confirmed cases of H1N1 between 22 May and 21 December 2009, 140 (3.8%) deaths were reported (8). Training programs are one of the effective ways to prevent influenza and the usefulness of this education depends on the suitable use of behavioral science theories (9). One of the models used in health education is the Health Belief Model (HBM) that believes behavior is the result of knowledge and attitude. This model has been developed based on this idea that people should know about the threats to their health; and if they know, then their behavior will change toward healthy behaviors. The