Can H1N1 flu virus in pregnancy change genes in the brains of the unborn?

Swine flu in pregnant women may change the genes of unborn children resulting in damage to the hippocampus. According to the article, neuroscientists found that the H1N1 changes the genes that control brain growth and development in the unborn child. The scientists published their report in the medical journal, European Neuropsychopharmacology, listing more than a dozen genes that the swine flu virus adversely affected.

Geneticists want to know how some of those genes are tied to the development of the hippocampus, a component of the brain involved in long term memory and spatial navigation.

If the flu itself damages the hippocampus, the result could be linked to autism, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. Let's take a logical look at the original study, published in the medical journal, European Neuropsychopharmacology.

The team of researchers and lead scientist, Hossein Fatemi as part of the experiement, injected pregnant female mice with the H1N1 and studied the brains of the newborn mice. Mice exposed to the H1N1 virus in the womb had a fifteen percent reduction in the size of their hippocampus. Scientists also found twelve other genes that the flu virus negatively affected.

The study has been done on mice, not people. But does the study confirm the public health recommendation that pregnant women need to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus? If so, the question consumers need to ask is whether getting flu shots of the killed virus do anything to the brains of the infants yet unborn when the pregnant women get the recommended shots? On one hand, you don't want to get the flu when pregnant. Your immune system is compromised when you're pregnant. You want protection.

On the other hand, the question is how is your unborn baby's brain going to be affected by the dead virus, the mercury in the shot, or any other factor? You don't want the flu, and vaccination is a priority for pregnant women. But what will the hippocampus of your baby's brain look like? You're not going to be given the live virus up the nose because you'll be shedding it for days after vaccination to other family members, people standing next to you in the stores you shop at, and co-workers.