A twin challenge to handle: COVID‐19 with pregnancy

• Published in: Journal of Medical Virology 2020-10, Vol.92 (10), p.1718-1720
• Main Authors: Sahu, Kamal K., Mishra, Ajay K., Lal, Amos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Letter to the Editor; Letters to the Editor; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - epidemiology; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - prevention & control; Pregnancy Outcome; Virology
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25784

A much bigger case series by Liu et al's study showed that 11 out of 13 pregnant patients had complications requiring emergency C‐section in five patients, whereas the other six patients had preterm labor.7 This is the third coronavirus outbreak of the 21st century.8, 9 Although our understanding regarding the current outbreak is limited, studies conducted during MERS and SARS outbreaks can help us sail through this pandemic.10-12 We appreciate that Jiao et al attempted to correlate the maternal outcomes and fatality of current COVID‐19 pandemic with the previous similar coronavirus outbreaks. Besides Wong et al's study on pregnant patients affected with SARS (2009), as mentioned by Jiao et al, there are few more studies that we would like to discuss to complement the topic with more concrete data.10, 11 Lam et al performed a comparative study on patients infected with SARS (2009)—10 pregnant vs 40 nonpregnant patients. Description and comparison of various recent studies on COVID‐19, MERS, and SARS Parameters COVID‐19 (2019‐2020) SARS (2002‐2003) MERS (2012) Author et al Liu et al7 Wong et al12 Alfaraj et al11 Study reported from First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen University, Guangzhou, China Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong Corona Center, Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital (PMAH), Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Study period 1 February 2003 to 31 July 2003 Medline search 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2016 No. of patients 13 12 11 Trimester at presentation 1st trimester ‐ 0 1st trimester‐ 7 patients 1st trimester ‐ 1 2nd trimester‐ 2 2nd and 3rd trimester (all patients were >24 wk) ‐ 5 patients 2nd trimester‐ 5 3rd trimester ‐ 11 3rd trimester ‐ 5 Need for C‐section 5 4 4 Pregnancy outcome 13 outcomes 12 outcomes 11 outcomes Miscarriage 0 4 2 Preterm delivery 6 4 3 Term delivery 4 1 6 Recovered without 3 3 0 Maternal mortality 0 3 (25%) 2 (27%) Newborn mortality 1 0 3 Vertical transmission 0 0 NA Last but not the least, we also feel the pain of the Jiao et al when they mentioned about the sorrowful state under which pregnant medical staff, nurses, and doctors, especially from developing nations, have to continue working during the infective crisis, exposing themselves and their in utero babies during a crucial phase of intrauterine growth. Clinical characteristics and intrauterine vertical transmission potential of COVID‐19 infection in nine pregnant women: a retrospective review of medical records. A case‐controlled study comparing cl