COVID-19 and Pregnancy: Risk, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Authors

Vera Hapshy, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Daniel Aziz, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Payal Kahar, Florida Gulf Coast University
Deepesh Khanna, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Kenneth E. Johnson, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Mayur S. Parmar, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Publication Title

SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine

Keywords

COVID-19, Neonatal outcomes, Placenta, Pregnancy, SARs-CoV-2, Treatment, Vaccine, Vertical transmission

ISSN

2523-8973

Volume

3

Issue/No.

7

First Page

1477

Last Page

1483

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel virus responsible for causing an infection known as COVID-19. Several pulmonary and systemic manifestations of the illness have been described since the discovery of this virus. However, there have been higher-risk populations in which this infection has not been well studied nor documented. One of these populations includes the pregnant cohort. The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 infection in the pregnant population and review the implications and sequelae of the infection throughout pregnancy and outcomes of live births. Also, we summarize the understanding and safety of current treatments and vaccination in pregnancy. This comprehensive review article comprises several case reports, case series, cohort studies, retrospective studies, and randomized clinical trials. Findings regarding maternal morbidity included an increased risk of acquiring severe COVID-19 infection requiring a higher level of inpatient hospital care along with an increased risk of preterm labor and cesarean delivery. Neonatal COVID-19 vertical transmission was shown to have conflicting data as there was a presence of transmission in certain retrospective studies and absence in others. There was also no evidence of teratogenicity from maternal COVID-19 infection. In conclusion, in part due to the unique physiologic state of pregnancy and part due to unknown factors, pregnant patients are at increased risk for negative outcomes of COVID-19 infection and must be classified as a high-risk population.

NSUWorks Citation

Hapshy, Vera; Aziz, Daniel; Kahar, Payal; Khanna, Deepesh; Johnson, Kenneth E.; and Parmar, Mayur S., "COVID-19 and Pregnancy: Risk, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment" (2021). HPD Articles. 15.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_facarticles/15

ORCID ID

0000-0003-4970-9857

DOI

10.1007/s42399-021-00915-2