Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19 in Pregnant Women

Melissa C Fesler; Raphael B Stricker

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S295627

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19 in Pregnant Women

Int J Gen Med. 2021 Jan 26:14:279-284. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S295627. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Melissa C Fesler^{1

2}, Raphael B Stricker^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Alan E. Beer Medical Center for Reproductive Immunology, Los Gatos, CA, USA.
² Union Square Medical Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Abstract

Pregnant women are at higher risk for developing severe complications of COVID-19 including preterm delivery, respiratory failure, and death. Although vaccines to prevent COVID-19 are being developed, pregnant women are not included in the current COVID-19 vaccine trials and initially this population may not be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines due to lack of safety testing in pregnancy. As an alternate approach, we discuss the concept of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) using medications that are approved for use in pregnant women to prevent gestational problems and severe illness in this high-risk population. In particular, the use of hydroxychloroquine PrEP affords a safe and readily available means to avoid COVID-19 complications in pregnancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hydroxychloroquine; pre-exposure prophylaxis; pregnancy; vaccine.