Effect of Exposure Risk on the Outcomes of COVID-19 Positive Pregnant Women

Introduction  

Pregnancy is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease. Vaccine program has been offered as a priority to pregnant frontliners whose jobs considered high-risk exposure. We studied how the risk exposure of COVID-19 pregnant women affects maternal and neonatal outcomes.    

Method  

We identified COVID-19 rt-PCR positive pregnant women who were admitted to Sibu Hospital from January to May 2021, who had been affected by surge of pandemic. We reviewed their case notes and collected sociodemographic information, maternal and neonatal outcomes. We compared the severity of disease and pregnancy outcomes between high and low exposure risk groups.    

Result  

We identified 119 COVID-19 pregnant women;  44 (37.0%) subjects were considered high-risk exposure. None were vaccinated for COVID-19. There were no significant differences between the low- and high-risk groups for medical and sociographic factors. There was also no significant difference between the risk exposures for COVID-19 severity, intensive care admission, need for ventilation and premature delivery. For those who delivered, 45.5% (n=5) of the high-risk group delivered prematurely with an odds ratio of 15.0 (95% CI: 1.46, 155.3, p = 0.023). Otherwise, there was no significant difference in other neonatal outcomes.   No neonate was tested positive for COVID-19.    

Discussion/Conclusion  

A significant number of low-risk COVID-19 exposure subjects in our cohort developed severe COVID-19 and equally likely to have unwanted maternal and neonatal outcomes. Thus, pregnant women are all vulnerable to develop severe COVID-19 regardless of their risks' exposure. Our study finding highlights the importance of COVID-19 vaccination for all pregnant women.      

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