The first clinical trial of a vaccine against swine flu in pregnant women has started in America. The study is being conducted by the government's research institute, the National Institutes of Health .
The study will be conducted among 120 pregnant women, ages 18 to 39, who are in the second or third trimester of their pregnancy. The women receive 15 or 30 micrograms of Sanofi Pasteur's vaccine candidate, followed by a second dose 21 days later.
The blood of the women measures how the immune system reacts to the vaccine. This is also done for the blood in the umbilical cord. The hope is that the child will also benefit from the vaccine.
The reason for the study is that pregnant women run a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the swine flu.
