A new study has assessed how the SARS-CoV-2 virus impacts expecting women across the world. The study has found that pregnant women who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that leads to COVID-19 disease are seven times more prone to death and three times more expected to be admitted to emergency units as compared to those pregnant women who are not diagnosed with COVID-19 disease. The study has been put together by BMJ Global Health. Considering the findings of the study, health officials have said that people should get vaccinated as soon as possible. Considering the findings of the study and other reports, which highlight the effect of multiple complications linked to COVID-19 that can occur among pregnant women, more than 80 nations across the globe do not advise that pregnant and lactating women should be vaccinated. The lead author of the study and an assistant professor of global health from George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Emily R. Smith has said that even some healthcare providers do not encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 shot though it is advised by the health authorities.
Emily R. Smith and co-authors think that their sequential, potential meta-analysis that assesses data obtained from 12 studies that have been conducted in 12 countries, including the US, will educate public health authorities, doctors, and patients about the crucial role COVID-19 immunization plays in assisting positive pregnancy effects. The new study has compared the health data of 1942 women who have been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection to 11194 pregnant women who have tested negative for COVID-19 infection. The authors of the study started strategizing the meta-analysis in April 2020 and enrolled candidates via key stakeholders and qualified research networks that had given their nod to participate in the study. The authors of the new study have said that they have found studies by reviewing the most recently released PregCOV-19 Living Systematic assessment to identify studies that might be suitable for post-publication enclosure into the meta-analysis. All corresponding authors of outwardly suitable studies as well have been contacted by the health experts who have been involved in the new study. Emily R. Smith has said in a teleconference that one of the métiers of this particular study is that study authors have included data from all over the world and enrolled pregnant women who have been in their first trimester, the second trimester, and the third trimester. The findings of the study have revealed that COVID-19 infection is associated with an elevated risk of severe complications at any time in pregnancy.
As per the findings of the study, unimmunized pregnant women who catch COVID-19 infection are at nearly 15 times greater risk of being on a ventilator and 23 times greater risk of being diagnosed with pneumonia. They are at over 5 times greater risk of having blood clots. Health experts have said that mothers who are not vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus also put their infants at risk of complications linked to COVID-19. The outcomes of the new study have shown that infants born to unvaccinated women are at nearly 2 times higher risk of being admitted to a neonatal intensive care department and around 2 times more likely to be born before the due date. Such babies are at about 3 times higher risk of being born moderately premature. Health experts have said that premature infants are at greater risk of developing lifelong health issues such as delays in early childhood cognitive growth. Infants born to women who are not vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus are 1.19 times more likely to have low birth weight as well. Around ten studies that have been assessed in the new study gathered data on maternal deaths, but only three witnessed deaths during the study timeframe. Therefore, the authors of the new study have included data from those three studies only and have found that women with COVID-19 infection have been at an elevated risk of maternal death as compared to pregnant women who have not been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The authors of the new study have concluded saying that there is a need for global efforts to avert COVID-19 infection among pregnant women via targeted administration of COVID-19 shots and non-pharmaceutical mediation.
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