Assessment of Obstetric, Fetal and Neonatal Risks and Vertical SARS-CoV-2 Transmission During COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

A new coronavirus (COVID-19) highlighted at the end of 2019 in China is spreading across all continents. Most often at the origin of a mild infectious syndrome, associating benign symptoms (such as fever, cough, and headache) to different degrees, COVID-19 can cause serious pulmonary pathologies and sometimes death. Data on the consequences during pregnancy are limited. The first Chinese data published seem to show that the symptoms in pregnant women are the same as those of the general population. There are no cases of intrauterine maternal-fetal transmission, but cases of newborns infected early suggest that there could be vertical intrauterine, perpartum or neonatal transmission. Prematurity and cases of respiratory distress in newborns of infected mothers have been described. Subsequently, an in-depth analysis of cases in pregnant women and pregnancy issues are necessary in order to improve knowledge on the subject.

The main objective of this project is to set up a biological and tissue collection in order to study the transplacental passage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage, intra uterine fetal death, medical termination of pregnancy or living birth) during COVID-19 pandemic. The biological and tissue collection will be made up of systematic samples taken from parturient women and their pregnancy outcome at the time of their arrival at the maternity unit to deliver whatever their term and pregnancy outcome. This inclusion will concern all pregnant women, both symptomatic and asymptomatic positive COVID-19 women, and negative COVID-19 women. All women included will have a serological test to check their immunity status to SARS-CoV-2 in order to study pregnant women with an unnoticed COVID-19 infection during their pregnancy. The inclusion time will extend from the epidemic period until a year after, in order to document the outcomes of pregnant women potentially exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in early pregnancy. Samples analyses will be carried out after the epidemic peak to not overload laboratories in times of crisis. The challenge is to have a better knowledge of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological and virological characteristics in particular its involvement in maternal-fetal morbidity and mortality, and to better understand the organs affected and the pathways of contamination within this particular mother-child duo.