The Delta variant causes an increase in hospitalizations of pregnant women who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 in the United States. These are more affected by severe forms of the virus.
- In the United States, pregnant women who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 are hospitalized more than others.
- Not being vaccinated would also increase the risk of premature births and other neonatal problems.
In France, from four months of pregnancy, i.e. the second trimester, pregnant women have priority for vaccination with doses of mRNA vaccine. According to the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (Ansm), as of March 30, 2021, more than 35,000 pregnant women had received a first injection of an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 in the United States. According to the feedback, the frequency of adverse effects in expectant mothers was similar to that observed in the general population. On the other hand, in pregnant women, the vaccine would have the same guarantees of protection against the virus as for the rest of the individuals. However, some of them remain skeptical and refuse to be vaccinated. They therefore run the risk of developing a severe form and being hospitalized.
15% of pregnant women hospitalized for Covid-19
According to a study published in the journal American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Covid-19 hospitalizations are increasing among unvaccinated pregnant women in the United States. These therefore develop serious forms, which would be due in particular to the Delta variant. To achieve these results, since May 2020 researchers have analyzed more than 1,500 future mothers with Covid-19 in the Dallas area. Thus, according to them, the percentage of these patients requiring hospitalization would have increased to 10 to 15% between the end of August and the beginning of September, more than double the percentage of the previous year, before the emergence of the Delta variant.
Two pregnant women have died from the virus
“This is a worrying trend, and we mostly see these cases in unvaccinated women.“, says Emily Adhikari, lead author of the study. The researcher believes that these results provide objective evidence that the number of cases and the severity of the disease in pregnant women increased with the appearance of the Delta variant. In the Detail, 82 of the hospitalized patients had a severe form of Covid-19, almost all due to the Delta variant. Of all these women, none were vaccinated against the virus. Ten of them had to be put on a ventilator and two died of it.
Without a vaccine, more risk of complications during pregnancy
“If exposed and infected, they are at higher risk of developing a severe form of the disease due to the Delta variantcontinues Emily Adhikari. Pregnant women should get vaccinated as soon as possible”. Some refuse to be vaccinated because they fear adverse effects for themselves or their babies. However, previous studies have shown that the risks are higher in unvaccinated pregnant women. On March 2, the National Academy of Medicine pleaded in a press release in favor of the vaccination of pregnant women, especially if they were at risk. According to them, “a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of more than 450,000 women with symptomatic Covid-19 shows that the rate of intensive care unit admission, invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and death is higher in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women of childbearing age. In addition, Covid-19 multiplies by 3 the risk of premature delivery”.
Last April, another study, published in the journal Med estimated that pregnant women infected with Covid-19 were at greater risk of premature births and other neonatal problems than those who did not have the virus. To avoid these complications, the best remedy remains vaccination.
