A study conducted by a government medical college at Kannur has revealed that despite the altered immune status in pregnancy, Covid-19 was less harsh on them. The study conducted on 158 pregnant women, has revealed that the majority of pregnant women who tested positive for Covid were either asymptomatic, or had only minor complications.
These women were treated at the government medical college, Kannur, from April 2020 till September 2020.
Their symptoms at presentation and the outcome of the pregnancies was noted too. While 96% women were less than 35 years, 4% were either 35 or more.
It was found that about 68% pregnant women were without any symptoms. These women were diagnosed to be positive chiefly due to history of contact with positive family members or due to history of travel from high risk areas.
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Of these 158 women, 16% were more than 34 weeks of gestation, with 54 patients delivering at the hospital, with 7 having a normal delivery, and 47 caesareans. The remaining patients were discharged after they tested negative for Covid. There were three miscarriages.
“Global trends are similar to what we have witnessed here. Data from 77 studies involving 11,432 pregnant women from14 countries published in British Medical Journal (BMJ) shows that pregnant women with Covid infection are less likely to have major symptoms than nonpregnant women of similar age. But we don’t know the exact reason for this,” said Dr Ajith S, head, gynaecology department, Government medical college, Kannur, who is part of the study.
“In our study, a large proportion of pregnant patients presented without symptoms. This needs to be evaluated so that it may provide us with clues on how to deal with disease in the general population too,” added Dr Ajith.