A new study by MedUni Vienna shows why pregnant women in particular should continue to protect themselves against infection with Covid-19. They have been in the higher risk group since the start of the pandemic, but the researchers have now discovered that a disease can damage the placenta and subsequently the foetus. This was especially true for mothers without a Covid vaccination.
In contrast to previous studies, in which possible complications for the unborn child due to infection with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy were only determined after birth and/or based on tissue samples, the scientific team focused on prenatal diagnosis.
Clearly related to infection
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 76 scans of placentas and fetuses of pregnant women were performed as part of the study, 38 after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (pre-omicron or omicron variants) and 38 in healthy controls . The result: In both infection groups, the placentas (also called placentas) showed abnormalities compared to the control group.
The size was sometimes so large, especially in variants before Omicron, that the development and health of the unborn child was damaged. “Our study found that infections with pre-omicron variants such as Delta, for example, causes significantly more damage in the form of vascular events such as thrombi or bleeding than the currently rampant Omicron subvariants,” explained first author Patric Kienast of MedUni Vienna’s Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.
Vaccination also protects here
The researchers attribute the different degrees of placental damage due to different virus variants to the fact that omicron sublines result in milder disease progression on the one hand and to the already higher vaccination coverage in the advanced phase of the pandemic on the other hand.
“Our results show at least that both of the two unvaccinated pregnant participants developed a placental abnormality after infection with SARS-CoV-2 omicron, but only one in six of the three times vaccinated women,” said study leader Gregor. Kasprian.
Placenta is not spared
So far, the placenta has proven to be a very effective barrier against the coronavirus: only zero to three percent of all fetuses also became infected with SARS-CoV-2 after the mother was infected. However, the organ that lies against the uterine wall is not spared. As the current study shows, some unborn children experienced growth restriction or bleeding in the brain.
“Therefore, the placenta of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 should be examined as soon as possible after the positive test result using prenatal imaging methods,” advises Daniela Prayer from MedUni Vienna, especially in the case of possible future virus variants with e.g. B. the Delta variant. If the worst comes to the worst, there is still a chance to take measures for fetal health.
Source: Krone
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