Cited by 980COVID-19 Impact on ReproductionSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

An analysis of 38 pregnant women with COVID-19, their newborn infants, and maternal-fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2: Maternal coronavirus infections and pregnancy outcomes

Open access
Schwartz, David A.·2020·Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Abstract

The emergence of a novel coronavirus, termed SARS-CoV-2, and the potentially life-threatening respiratory disease that it can produce, COVID-19, has rapidly spread across the globe, creating a massive public health problem. Previous epidemics of many emerging viral infections have typically resulted in poor obstetric outcomes including maternal morbidity and mortality, maternal-fetal transmission of the virus, and perinatal infections and death. This article reviews the effects of 2 previous coronavirus infections-severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) caused by MERS-CoV-on pregnancy outcomes. In addition, it analyzes literature describing 38 pregnant women with COVID-19 and their newborns in China to assess the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the mothers and infants, including clinical, laboratory, and virologic data, and the transmissibility of the virus from mother to fetus. This analysis reveals that unlike coronavirus infections of pregnant women caused by SARS and MERS, in these 38 pregnant women COVID-19 did not lead to maternal deaths. Importantly, and similar to pregnancies with SARS and MERS, there were no confirmed cases of intrauterine transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mothers with COVID-19 to their fetuses. All neonatal specimens tested, including placentas in some cases, were negative by RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. At this point in the global pandemic of COVID-19 infection there is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 undergoes intrauterine or transplacental transmission from infected pregnant women to their fetuses. Analysis of additional cases is necessary to determine if this remains true.

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  • Previous epidemics such as SARS-CoV (2002) and MERS-CoV (2012) were shown to adversely influence mental health.

    “previous epidemics such as SARS-CoV (2002) and MERS-CoV (2012) were shown to adversely influence mental health [8].”

    From Seroprevalence of COVID-19 and Psychological Distress among Front Liners at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah Campus during the Third Wave of COVID-19 (2022) · cites this paper as [8]

    The sections on SARS and MERS describe the outbreaks and adverse clinical outcomes in pregnancy, but not mental-health effects. Searches for mental health, psychological and psychiatric outcomes found no passage in our copy addressing the claimed effect. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Schwartz, D. A.
Affiliations
Augusta University (US)
Corresponding author
Schwartz, David A.
Venue
Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Published
2020-03-17
Volume
144
Issue
7
Pages
799-805
ISSN
  • 0003-9985 (ISSN-L)
  • 1543-2165
OpenAlex
W3011386994
Cited by
976
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 150 · 2021: 247 · 2020: 408
FWCI
138.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, pregnancy outcomes, mother-to-child transmission, vertical transmission, intrauterine transmission, transplacental transmission, neonatal infection, SARS, MERS, maternal morbidity, RT-PCR
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, China, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, Pregnancy Outcome, Coronavirus Infections, Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Pandemics

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