Pregnant women with COVID-19 during the third trimester are unlikely to pass the virus to their newborns, according to a research conducted in the United States of America. The study, led by Dr Andrea Edlow of the Harvard Medical School was published in the journal, JAMA Network Open.The researchers examined the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the third trimester of pregnancy.
According to the publication, the results reported are limited to women in the third trimester because data on women infected during the first and second trimesters were still being collected and evaluated.
“Among those (64) who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the study, 36 per cent were asymptomatic, 34 per cent had mild disease, 11 per cent had moderate disease, 16 per cent had severe disease, and three per cent had critical disease.
“The study included, as comparators, 63 pregnant women who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 and 11 reproductive-age women with COVID-19 who were not pregnant.
“The team found that pregnant women who were positive for SARS-COV-2 had detectable levels of virus in respiratory fluids like saliva, nasal and throat secretions, but no virus in the bloodstream or the placenta,” the publication stated.
source: MedicalWorldNigeria
