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SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah Health Dr Torri Metz, lead author of a new national study on COVID-19 and pregnancy, said on Friday that women who have experienced mild or moderate episodes with the virus do not are not at a higher risk of complications.
“In some ways I think it’s reassuring,” Metz told pregnant women who don’t get so sick after catching the coronavirus. However, she said there was also a worrying finding that pregnant women with severe or critical cases of COVID-19 have a higher risk of complications and even death.
“When people contract COVID-19, we don’t know how bad it will be and we have no way of preventing it from becoming serious,” Metz said. “So it is very important for pregnant patients to try to minimize exposure and wear a mask at all times.”
The study comes as the Utah Department of Health reported 1,517 new COVID-19 cases and a total of 35 additional deaths on Friday – including 16 that should have been reported on Thursday but were missed due to one data transmission error and six that occurred before January. 1.
The death toll from the virus in Utah now stands at 1,655.
Another 9,384 people have been tested for the virus in Utah, and the seven-day moving average for positive tests is 1,550 per day and 18.19% for the percentage of positive lab tests. Currently, 446 people in Utah are hospitalized for COVID-19.
Metz, maternal and fetal medicine subspecialist and associate professor, said the study results were largely limited to women in the third trimester, so there are no data on the effects of capturing the coronavirus anymore. early in a pregnancy, for example on birth defects.
Asked at a virtual press conference on whether women might want to postpone pregnancies during the pandemic, Metz said there was no single answer.
She said that while there are no recommendations for women to avoid getting pregnant, they should understand that COVID-19 may increase the risk. The same is true of deciding whether to get the coronavirus vaccine during pregnancy.
“I am very happy that pregnant women in the United States have the opportunity to choose a vaccine,” Metz said, although there is little data on its safety for them. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women get vaccinated, but advice is different internationally.
Pregnant women must be included in clinical trials of vaccines from the start, “so that we don’t end up in this situation, where we have no safety data and we have to counsel women,” he said. she said, adding the results of the study. must be balanced against the unknown effects.
The study looked at the medical records of 1,219 pregnant women from 33 hospitals in 14 states who tested positive for COVID-19 and gave birth between March 1 and July 31, 2020. Of this group, 47% were asymptomatic, 27 % had a mild case of the virus, 14% a moderate case, 8% a severe case and 4% were seriously ill.
Four women in the study, 0.3%, died from COVID-19. That’s a much higher death rate than the 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births among women without the deadly virus reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC had previously identified COVID-19 as putting pregnant women at greater risk of dying and experiencing serious complications compared to women who are not pregnant and contract the coronavirus. The study details who is most at risk.
According to the results, pregnant women who became seriously or seriously ill with the coronavirus were older, overweight, and more likely to have asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other underlying medical conditions.
Not only were they more likely to die, but they also faced serious complications that could lead to long-term health problems for mothers and their babies.
Metz said 60% of women who had been critically or critically ill with COVID-19 needed a cesarean section, 50% of their babies needed to be treated in the neonatal intensive care unit, 42% had had a birth premature and 40% developed high blood pressure during pregnancy.
“It was not small proportions that we were talking about. In this very sick group, they are really at a very high risk for pregnancy complications, ”the doctor said.
The study also found that 1% of newborns tested positive for COVID-19, she said, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the virus was transmitted in utero.
The study, funded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was presented on Friday at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
The COVID-19 deaths in Utah reported on Friday are:
• Sixteen residents of Salt Lake City County, all but one of whom were hospitalized or living in a long-term care facility at the time of their death. All but four were 65 years of age or older. Three were between 45 and 64 and one man was between 25 and 44.
• Five residents of Utah County all aged 65 to 84. Three were men hospitalized at the time of death. Of the two women, one was hospitalized and the other a resident of a long-term care facility.
• Four Weber County women aged 45 to over 85, including three in long-term care and one hospitalized at the time of death.
• Two Davis County residents, a woman over 85 in a long-term care facility and a man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized.
• Two men from Box Elder County aged 65 to 84, both hospitalized at the time of death.
• A man and a woman from Tooele County. The woman was over 85 and was hospitalized while the man was between 65 and 84 and was in a long-term care facility.
• A man from Carbon County, 45-64 years old, hospitalized.
• A man from Iron County, 65-84, hospitalized.
• A man from Summit County, aged 65 to 84, hospitalized.
• A Washington County woman aged 45 to 65, resident in a long-term care facility.
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