Journal of Women's Health Care
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0420
ISSN: 2167-0420
Erika Molla
University of Milan, Italy
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Women's Health Care
In December 2019, more and more cases of pneumonia of unknown origin began to be recorded, only to discover that the responsible agent was a virus named SARS-CoV-2. Numerous studies show that pregnancy does not increase the risk for severe COVID-19 infection. It has also been shown that there is no need to perform a caesarean section in in affected woman, unless the symptoms are severe. Studies show that COVID-19 infection leaves sings of injury in the placenta, a key organ of pregnancy, and it has been shown that the presence of a major viremia seems to favour vertical transmission, but only in 3-6% of cases. The studies analysed the presence of direct histopathological damage from the virus to the placenta by analysing the receptors believed to be responsible for infection, concluding that there is no specific placental pattern of SARS-CoV- 2 infection. Several studies have also observed that the worst clinical outcomes result in women with other pre-pregnancy comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, gestational diabetes). When considering villitis, an inflammatory lesion resulting from maternal hypoxia or systemic inflammation, it has been shown that the maternal systemic inflammatory response caused by the virus appears to be more detrimental to pregnancy than the virus itself. It is also important to consider the potential effects of the virus on the foetus; there is a low probability and low risk of adverse effects on the foetus and newborn. Among these, the main ones described are damage to the ACE2-converting enzyme, maternal respiratory distress and subsequent maternal-fetal hypoxia, and direct vertical transmission of the virus through the placenta and maternal immune cells. There are also benefits from maternal infection; specific IgG, which can pass the placenta, has been found to provide protective effects to infants for several months.