Comparison of maternal and fetal health outcomes in the pandemic period of covid-19 with the same last year duration in health centers of second largest city of Iran: A population-based cohort study

Impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and fetal outcomes in women with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND

In the general population, maternal COVID-19 is associated with worse maternal and fetal outcomes. Two previous studies have assessed COVID-19 clinical outcomes in pregnant women with multiple sclerosis (MS), but there are no data about maternal and fetal outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

In this multicenter study, we aimed to assess maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant women with MS and COVID-19 infection.

METHODS

We recruited pregnant patients with MS who contracted COVID-19 and were followed up in Italian and Turkish Centers, during 2020-2022. A control group was extracted from a previous Italian cohort. Associations between group (COVID-19 or healthy patients) and clinical outcomes (maternal complications, fetal malformations, and spontaneous abortion) were investigated with a weighted logistic regression where propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) approach was applied for adjusting for difference in baseline confounders.

RESULTS

In the multivariable analysis, COVID-19 during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of maternal complications (odd ratio (OR) = 2.12; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.32-3.48; p = 0.002), while it was not associated with higher risk of spontaneous abortion and fetal malformations.

CONCLUSION

Our data indicate that COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal complications, while it seems to have no significant impact on fetal outcomes.

Investigating the impact of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccination on antibody response in pregnant women and their newborns

This study aims to investigate the levels of receptor-binding domain (RBD), spike, and neutralizing antibodies in pregnant women who received the Sinopharm vaccine and their newborns. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary center, Mashhad, Iran. We included 88 pregnant women who had received at least two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine. Maternal and umbilical cord blood samples taken at delivery were analyzed for antibodies using ELISA tests. Antibody levels did not vary significantly between women with two or three vaccine doses. Only 1.1% of mothers had undetectable levels of RBD antibodies, but detectable antibodies were observed in all newborns. A significant linear correlation was found between the levels of neutralizing antibodies (r = 0.7, p < 0.001) and RBD antibodies (r = 0.833, p < 0.001) in mothers and their newborns, but not for Spike antibodies (r = 0.214, p = 0.045). In mothers, high titers of antispike and RBD antibodies were observed at the time of delivery. The high titers of RBD and antispike antibodies were found in cord blood, suggesting potential neonatal immunity. Detectable levels of antibodies were found in both groups, regardless of the timing of vaccination. The Sinopharm vaccine generates detectable levels of antibodies in pregnant women, which are efficiently transferred to their newborns. The number of vaccine doses (two or three) did not significantly impact the levels of detectable antibodies. This underscores Sinopharm's potential efficacy in protecting pregnant women and their infants from COVID-19.