COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons. We now understand this disease better and have better prevention and treatment methods. We have identified groups that are facing the largest risks associated with this viral disease. But there still are some things we need to understand.
Researchers at The University of British Columbia have found that catching COVID-19 during pregnancy increases risk of hospitalisation and premature birth.
Pregnant women should be considered one of the risk groups for severe COVID-19 effects. Image credit: Arteida MjESHTRI via Wikimedia
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While it may seem like COVID-19 pandemic is slowly leaving us, the fight is not over yet. In fact, many places in the world, including Canada, are facing the sixth wave of COVID-19 infections. Healthcare systems need to stay alert and people need to understand the risks. Some people are more vulnerable to COVID-19. Older people and those suffering from chronic diseases should be particularly careful. But now scientists say that pregnant women are at a higher risk as well.
Scientists analysed 6,012 cases of COVID-19 in pregnancy in Canada. They looked at outcomes of the disease and compared these results with data from women who were not pregnant when they contacted COVID-19. Scientists say that this analysis quickly revealed that COVID-19 complications are significantly more common in pregnant women.
466 of the pregnant women in the study (7.75 %) required hospitalisation and 121 (2.01 %) were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Scientists discovered that pregnant women are 2.65 times more likely to require hospitalisation and 5.46 times more likely to be admitted to ICU than non-pregnant women.
Some other factors could increase the risk even further, such as age and pre-existing high blood pressure. Scientists also looked at preterm birth statistics and found that the rate of preterm birth among COVID-19-affected pregnancies was 11.1 %. This is significantly higher than 6.8 % in pregnancies that were not affected by COVID-19.
Dr. Elisabeth McClymont, first author of the study, said: “Preterm births can result in serious and lifelong impacts on the infant. Our results emphasize the importance of preventative measures, such as vaccination, that can help reduce COVID-19 infection among pregnant people.”
Scientists also found that none of the pregnant women who received two vaccine doses experienced any adverse maternal outcomes. Pregnant women need to be protected from COVID-19 disease to minimise those risks of severe complications. This is important to know going forward as COVID-19 pandemic is far from completely over.
Source: UBC