Pregnancy and Reduced Risk of Long COVID
A recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) experiment has shed light on the relationship between pregnancy and long COVID. The study focused on women aged 18 to 49 who had contracted COVID-19 between March 2020 and June 2022 in 19 US health systems.
The researchers defined post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) as symptoms that persisted between 30 to 180 days after the initial infection. Out of the total sample size of 89,312 women, 83,915 had contracted COVID-19 outside of pregnancy, while 5,397 had contracted it during pregnancy.
Interestingly, the study found that pregnant women who developed COVID-19 were less likely to experience long COVID or PASC compared to non-pregnant women. Specifically, pregnant women had a PASC rate of 25.5% compared to 33.9% in non-pregnant women. This translates to a 15% reduced risk of long COVID in pregnant women.
The researchers also took into account various factors such as age and comorbidities. They discovered that non-pregnant women were generally older and had more underlying health conditions compared to pregnant women with COVID-19. This may have contributed to the higher likelihood of non-pregnant women experiencing protracted COVID compared to pregnant women.
When examining the specific symptoms experienced by pregnant women with COVID-19, the study found that they were more likely to have irregular heartbeat, abdominal discomfort, and thrombosis compared to those who contracted the virus outside of pregnancy. On the other hand, non-pregnant women with long COVID were more prone to joint discomfort, sleep disturbances, cognitive problems, difficulty breathing, brain malfunction, hair loss, acute pharyngitis (throat infection), malnutrition, malaise and weariness, and chest pain.
The researchers emphasized that this study was the first of its kind to specifically investigate the outcomes of long COVID in relation to pregnancy. They believe that these findings will be valuable in improving patient counseling and guiding future research. However, they also acknowledge the need for additional prospective studies to further confirm these findings.
In conclusion, the study suggests that pregnant women who contract COVID-19 may have a lower risk of developing long COVID or PASC compared to non-pregnant women. This highlights the importance of considering pregnancy as a potential protective factor when studying the long-term effects of COVID-19.