Covid-19 miscarriage

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

A Mumbai woman in her late 20s has become the first to suffer a miscarriage due to Covid-19 in India.

Concept:

• There are not many known Covid-19-related complications in pregnancy, and there is limited research on how the novel coronavirus affects the unborn child.
• The placenta acts as a barrier that protects the foetus in the uterus from external infections. But some studies have suggested it may in fact act as a reservoir for the coronavirus, allowing it to replicate.
• The woman had contact with a Covid-19 positive case when she was eight weeks pregnant. She had no symptoms, but a precautionary nasopharyngeal test returned positive for the virus, and she was admitted to institutional isolation.
• About four weeks later, a second test showed no trace of the virus in her nasopharyngeal tract. She was healthy, but a week later (when she was 13 weeks pregnant), a routine ultrasound test found that the foetus had died.
• The unborn baby suffered from a condition called ‘hydrops fetalis’, which is the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body. It was suspected to have been caused by inflammation.
• The pregnant woman had tested negative for Covid-19 in a repeat test, which meant the virus had cleared from her throat and nasal tract, but the infection may have travelled towards the womb.
• The placenta, amniotic fluid from the gestational sac, and the foetal membrane were tested – and the placenta and amniotic fluid showed active SARS-CoV-2 virus replication.
• Doctors concluded that placental infection due to Covid-19 had led to inflammation and the death of the foetus.