The Department of Health (DOH) said recent cases of pregnant women losing their babies after being immunized against the influenza (H1N1) virus were unrelated to getting the vaccine, and it urged pregnant women not to fear getting a flu shot. Liu Ting-ping, who is in charge of the immunization program at the DOH's Centers for Disease Control, said hospitals have notified her agency of five complaints from pregnant women after receiving an H1N1 flu shot. Two cases involved stillborn babies, two involved miscarriages, and one woman was simply unhappy at getting an H1N1 shot before learning she was pregnant. DOH Deputy Minister Chang Shan-chwen said that in two of the cases reported in the media, an older woman's baby was stillborn because of an abnormal placeta, and one of the miscarriages was caused by the umbilical chord encircling the fetus. After studying the two cases, a group of physicians who serve as advisers to the DOH found that neither incident was caused by the new vaccine, Chang said, and he insisted that based on results to date, the immunization program is safe for pregnant women. 'More than 13,000 pregnant women have been immunized. The ratio of miscarriages is lower than for pregnant women who have not taken the shots, and the ratio of stillborn babies is the same for the two groups,' he said. The DOH will continue to monitor the effect of H1N1 vaccines on pregnant women and their babies, he added. The CDC's Liu said her agency has received 22 applications for redress from people who suffered problems after receiving H1N1 shots. Among them, one was filed by one of five pregnant women reported to the CDC, but her case is still being reviewed. Of the other 21 applications, three have been screened by a team of medical experts, which found that their conditions had 'nothing to do with the new vaccines,' according to the DOH's Chang. The three cases involved an 82-year-old man who died because of acute cerebrovascular disease or a heart attack; a 19-month-old infant whose right eyelid droop was caused by a disease in the immune system; and a senior high school student who became numb on the left side of her body after taking the shot but whose neural functions were found to be normal. Liu noted that the family members who were not satisfied by the panel's judgment could take legal action to have a forensic examination to help determine the exact cause of death. 