OTIS Launches New Program to Inform Pregnant Women About 2009 H1N1 Virus, Vaccines and Antiviral Medications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 23, 2009 -- The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), a network of health care professionals across the U.S. and Canada, is providing expanded toll-free telephone access to counseling services for pregnant women.

In response to recent increasing demand from pregnant women for information about the 2009 H1N1 infection, influenza vaccines and the use of antiviral medications, individualized counseling is available to women in both English and Spanish. In addition to informing women about these exposures, the OTIS network has launched a new study to help monitor pregnancy outcomes in women who have received vaccines or antiviral medications during pregnancy.

The new program, called Vaccines and Medications in Pregnancy Surveillance System (VAMPSS), is a nationwide effort that will collect important safety information that can help to provide reassurance to pregnant women in the future.

“Because pregnant women are more susceptible to complications resulting from an H1N1 virus infection, we cannot stress enough the importance of receiving vaccination,” said Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones, the medical director of the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Risk Line and professor of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego. “For those that do, participation in the VAMPSS program is an important way that women can promote healthy pregnancy outcomes by helping us to learn more about influenza vaccines and antiviral medication use during pregnancy.”

Participation in the VAMPSS program includes telephone interviews during and shortly after pregnancy and the release of medical records relating to pregnancy under strict patient confidentiality.

Those who are interested can call the OTIS toll-free number at 877-311-8972 or contact OTIS through the Web site at www.otispregnancy.org.

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