Study Finds Low-Dose Aspirin May Prevent Pregnancy Complications from Flu Infections

However, mice treated daily with low-dose aspirin showed less inflammation, improved fetal development, and increased offspring survival. The findings have significant implications for pregnancy and seasonal influenza virus infections. While there aren’t many studies on the impacts of flu infections during pregnancy, it is clear that pregnancy changes how the body responds to the virus.

“When the vascular system is inflamed, it leads to poor blood flow and affects the aorta’s function. This is especially a problem during pregnancy where good blood flow to the placenta is crucial to the development of the fetus. There are long-term implications for both the mother and the fetus, and aspirin might provide a simple solution for preventing this influenza-associated pathology. This study shines a light, for the first time, on the role of vascular inflammation associated with influenza virus and the potential dramatic effect of the disease-modifying drug aspirin, in low dosage, in pregnant women with co-morbid influenza,” said the authors.

Reference: Coward-Smith M, Liong S, Oseghale O, Erlich JR, Miles MA, Liong F, Brassington K, Bozinovski S, Vlahos R, Brooks RD, Brooks DA, O’Leary JJ and Selemidis S (2024) Low dose aspirin prevents endothelial dysfunction in the aorta and foetal loss in pregnant mice infected with influenza A virus. Front. Immunol. 15:1378610. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1378610