Preterm birth is not associated with asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection per se: Pre-pregnancy state is what matters

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 5;16(8):e0254875. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254875. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Evidence for the real impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on preterm birth is unclear, as available series report composite pregnancy outcomes and/or do not stratify patients according to disease severity. The purpose of the research was to determine the real impact of asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection on preterm birth not due to maternal respiratory failure. This case-control study involved women admitted to Sant Anna Hospital, Turin, for delivery between 20 September 2020 and 9 January 2021. The cumulative incidence of Coronavirus disease-19 was compared between preterm birth (case group, n = 102) and full-term delivery (control group, n = 127). Only women with spontaneous or medically-indicated preterm birth because of placental vascular malperfusion (pregnancy-related hypertension and its complications) were included. Current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection was determined by nasopharyngeal swab testing and detection of IgM/IgG antibodies in blood samples. A significant difference in the cumulative incidence of Coronavirus disease-19 between the case (21/102, 20.5%) and the control group (32/127, 25.1%) (P= 0.50) was not observed, although the case group was burdened by a higher prevalence of three known risk factors (body mass index > 24.9, asthma, chronic hypertension) for severe Coronavirus disease-19. Logistic regression analysis showed that asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection was not an independent predictor of spontaneous and medically-indicated preterm birth due to pregnancy-related hypertension and its complications (0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-1.43). Pregnant patients without comorbidities need to be reassured that asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection does not increase the risk of preterm delivery. Preterm birth and severe Coronavirus disease-19 share common risk factors (i.e., body mass index > 24.9, asthma, chronic hypertension), which may explain the high rate of indicated preterm birth due to maternal conditions reported in the literature.

MeSH terms

  • Abortion, Spontaneous
  • Adult
  • COVID-19 / transmission*
  • Carrier State / immunology*
  • Carrier State / virology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Hospitalization
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / statistics & numerical data
  • Placenta / physiopathology
  • Pre-Eclampsia
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / epidemiology
  • Pregnancy Outcome / epidemiology
  • Premature Birth / epidemiology
  • Premature Birth / immunology*
  • Premature Birth / virology
  • Risk Factors
  • SARS-CoV-2 / pathogenicity

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.