Nat Med: Pregnant women should also be vaccinated against COVID-19 to avoid adverse consequences of infection

Pregnant women do not appear to be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection than non-pregnant women, but pregnant women are at higher risk for severe illness after contracting the virus
.

Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are more likely to be admitted to the ICU, receive invasive ventilation and ventilator treatment, and die than non-pregnant women of childbearing age

Pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness after contracting the new coronavirus

However, despite widespread recognition of their vulnerability to Covid-19, pregnant women have always been excluded from pre-market clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines
.

As a result, when the Covid-19 vaccine started, there was a lack of evidence for the decision to vaccinate pregnant women against Covid-19

On January 14, 2022, researchers from the University of Edinburgh and other institutions in the United Kingdom published a research paper titled: SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination rates in pregnant women in Scotland in the top international medical journal Nature Medicine
.

The large-scale study showed that among women who gave birth within 28 days of Covid-19 diagnosis, the prolonged perinatal mortality rate was 22.
6 per 1,000 births, compared with the Scottish benchmark of 5.
6 per 1,000 births.

.

The findings also showed that serious complications during pregnancy known to be associated with COVID-19, including severe hospitalization and perinatal death, were significantly more common in unvaccinated women at diagnosis than in vaccinated women

Therefore, the researchers reminded that women should be vaccinated during pregnancy to avoid adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with new coronary pneumonia
.

Continued efforts are needed to increase vaccination rates among pregnant women

Sarah Stock et al at the University of Edinburgh analysed data collected from the Scottish Pregnancy COVID-19 Study, a national cohort study of all women who became pregnant on or after 1 March 2020, and were compared with Covid-19 infection and Covid-19 vaccination data are cross-correlated
.

The database ultimately tracked 144,546 pregnancies in 130,875 women between March 1, 2020, and October 31, 2021

March 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021

The research team found that the vaccination coverage rate of pregnant women (32% of women who gave birth in October 2021) was much lower than that of the average woman aged 18-44 (77%), and the monthly vaccination rate of pregnant women began in August 2021.
Decrease month by month
.

Prolonged perinatal mortality in vaccinated women was similar to baseline extended perinatal mortality in undiagnosed women

Covid-19 vaccine significantly reduces risk of hospitalization or ICU admission for pregnant women after contracting Covid-19

Vaccination against COVID-19 can significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization or ICU admission for pregnant women after infection with COVID-19

The research team concluded that women should be vaccinated during pregnancy to avoid adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with COVID-19
.

They stressed the need for continued efforts to increase vaccination rates among pregnant women

Women should be vaccinated during pregnancy to avoid adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with COVID-19 Women should be vaccinated during pregnancy to avoid adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with COVID-19

Original source:

Original source:

Stock, SJ, Carruthers, J.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination rates in pregnant women in Scotland