Newswise: A new study with women hospitalized in six African countries from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) showed that women pregnant with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, they had twice the risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and four times the risk of dying in the hospital than pregnant women who did not have COVID-19.
The researchers said their findings suggest that women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid getting COVID-19 and protect themselves in the best way possible with the available vaccines.
The findings were published on June 8, 2022 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, along with an accompanying view.
“If the mother is not well, the baby is not well. Because we do not yet have vaccines for babies under six months of age, pregnant women should receive the vaccine to protect their children and unborn babies, ”said Nadia Sam-Agudu, MD, associate professor of pediatrics. at UMSOM, Senior Technical Advisor for Pediatrics and Adolescent HIV at the UMSOM Institute of Human Virology, and International Senior Technical Advisor for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria.
Dr. Sam-Agudu added that currently available evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines indicated for use during pregnancy are safe, and emerging data show that they provide protection to both infants and mothers.
The new study was conducted by the African Forum for Research and Health Education (AFREhealth) Research collaboration on COVID-19 and pregnancy. The study examined data on 1,315 women hospitalized in Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa, including 510 women pregnant with COVID-19, 403 non-pregnant women with COVID-19 and 402 pregnant women. without COVID-19.
Women with other risk factors such as diabetes, HIV, a history of tuberculosis, or sickle cell anemia were at higher risk for severe COVID-19. About 32% of pregnant women with COVID-19 needed oxygen therapy in the hospital compared to 16% of pregnant women without COVID-19. About 19% of pregnant women with COVID-19 were admitted to the ICU, compared with 6% of pregnant women who did not have COVID-19. Among women hospitalized with COVID-19, 10% of those who were pregnant died compared with 5% of those who were not pregnant.
“I would like to call on health care providers to consider vaccine safety data for pregnant women and to advise women to help them consider the vaccine in light of the consequences of COVID-19, ”said Dr. Sam-Agudu. “Knowing that we have tools to prevent this disease from progressing, we should be more intentional, educational, and supportive about vaccination during pregnancy, so that pregnant women or women who plan to become pregnant can access and receive vaccines.” .
Overall, COVID-19 vaccination rates remain much lower in Africa compared to much of the rest of the world. To date, with the exception of a few, total vaccination rates in African countries do not exceed 40%. According to the researchers, COVID-19 vaccination rates are likely to be much lower among pregnant women in these settings.
African countries still face a low and inconsistent supply of COVID-19 vaccines, largely due to persistent inequality in access to global vaccine supply and manufacturing. Experts remain concerned that demand and acceptance for vaccines may decline, and apathy for vaccines will set in, as inconsistent access and supply persist.
“This study confirms that pregnant women face special risks and potential complications of COVID-19,” said Man Charurat, PhD, MHS, Professor of Medicine at UMSOM and director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention of Disease. ‘Institute of Human Virology of the UMSOM. “Public health experts and doctors need to make more efforts to solve the problem of vaccine inequality in Africa.”
E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs, University of Maryland Baltimore, and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, UMSOM, said: “We must make every effort to ensure that all countries or regions have available access to resources such as COVID-19 vaccines to prevent any unnecessary suffering.It is imperative that we encourage pregnant women to use the tools we have now developed to prevent their own disability and promote births. without “.
This work was supported by the Fogarty International Center for U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) (1R25TW011217-01) at AFREhealth.
Study author John Mellors, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh receives funding from Gilead Sciences, Inc .; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and advises Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Scientific Advisory Board), Accelevir Diagnostics, Merck and Xi’an Yufan Biotechnologies. He owns shares in Abound Bio, Inc., Co-Crystal Pharma, Inc. and Infectious Diseases Connect.
About the Institute of Human Virology
Formed in 1996 as a collaboration between the state of Maryland, the city of Baltimore, the University of Maryland system and the medical system of the University of Maryland, the IHV is an institute of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Maryland and hosts some of the world’s most recognized and recognized experts in all of virology. The IHV combines the disciplines of basic research, epidemiology, and clinical research in a concerted effort to accelerate the discovery of diagnoses and therapeutics for a wide variety of chronic and deadly viral and immune disorders, especially HIV, virus which causes AIDS. For more information, visit ihv.org and follow us on Twitter @IHVmaryland.
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was founded in 1807 as the first public school of medicine in the United States. It continues today as one of the world’s leading and fastest growing biomedical research companies: with 46 departments, centers, institutes and academic programs and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists and related health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a two-time distinguished winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award for Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $ 1.3 billion, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide intensive research, academic, and clinical care close to 2 million patients each year. The Faculty of Medicine has about $ 600 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the country in research funding. As one of seven vocational schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of about 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, apprentices, residents, and fellows. The combination of the School of Medicine and the Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of more than $ 6 billion and an economic impact of about $ 20 billion in the state and local community. . The School of Medicine, which ranks eighth among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the profile of the Association of American Medical Schools) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 emerging companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best medical schools, published in 2021, the UM School of Medicine ranks No. 9 among the 92 U.S. public medical schools and in the top 15% (no. 27) of all. 192 U.S. public and private medical schools. The Faculty of Medicine works locally, nationally and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu