Women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy have a higher risk of stillbirth or their baby dying within 28 days of birth. Recent studies reveal how pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are at risk of experiencing these two events.
In a study conducted by 44 researchers from 12 countries on 64 infants who died at birth and four infants who experienced neonatal death, all infants had placentas infected with SARS-CoV-2. All pregnant women involved are said to have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Unlike other disease pathogens that kill the fetus by infecting it directly, the Corona virus causes the placenta to disintegrate and deprives the fetus of oxygen. The findings are published in the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.
Placenta infected with SARS-CoV-2
According to the study, SARS-CoV-2 causes death in the fetus or infant by causing severe and widespread damage to the placenta. This damage affects an average of about 77.7 percent of the placenta.
“I didn’t know there was an infection that caused damage to this level,” says pathologist from Atlanta, United States, David Schwartz MD, quoted from WebMD, Monday (14/2/2022).
Almost all the placentas studied each had a SARS-CoV-2 placenta with three characteristics. These three features include large fibrin deposits, cell death within the trophoblast, and an unusual inflammation called chronic histiocytic intervillositis.
In line with Schwartz’s findings, the National Institutes of Health also found an association between moderate to severe COVID-19 infection in pregnant women with a high risk of pregnancy complications. These complications include caesarean section, premature birth, death during childbirth, postpartum bleeding, and non-Covid infections.
Schwartz and his team emphasize that COVID-19 vaccination and antiviral therapy can reduce the chances of SARS-CoV-2 infecting the placenta in pregnant women.
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