More pregnant people being hospitalized with COVID in Texas — most are unvaccinated
Growing numbers of pregnant people in Texas are being hospitalized with COVID-19, a new study shows, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. Doctors say it’s the “first objective evidence” that the delta coronavirus variant is causing more severe illness in this group.
Research on more than 1,500 pregnant COVID-19 patients shows the proportion of hospitalized cases more than doubled from last year before the delta variant emerged, increasing 10-15% in late August and early September.
More than a third of COVID-19 patients included in the study were admitted to the hospital the week of Aug. 29 alone, all of whom were infected with the delta variant, according to the study published as a preprint Sept. 13 in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The study will continue to be updated as more data becomes available.
Eighty-two pregnant people with severe or critical cases were hospitalized at the Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas between May 2020 and Sept. 4, 2021. Eleven of them required mechanical ventilation and two died. Two babies also died because of their mother’s critical illness, the researchers said.
All but one of the pregnant people hospitalized in the study were unvaccinated.
Study ‘offers a snapshot’ of COVID-19 trends among pregnant people
Researchers with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center say their findings “offer a snapshot” of what’s happening among pregnant people in other communities across the country.
Coronavirus trends in this group have become so concerning that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an “urgent health advisory” on Wednesday stating the importance of COVID-19 vaccination among people who are pregnant, lactating, trying to become pregnant and planning on getting pregnant in the future. The shots’ benefits “outweigh known or potential risks” to them and their fetus or infant.
As of Sept. 27, more than 125,000 pregnant people have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 22,000 of them have been hospitalized and 161 have died; 22 of those deaths occurred in August.
Study lead author Dr. Emily Adhikari, medical director of perinatal infectious diseases at the Parkland hospital in Dallas, said the uptick in hospitalizations in this group is a “concerning trend” given pregnant people face high risks for coronavirus and other respiratory infection complications.
“If they are exposed and infected, they run a higher risk of severe illness from this most recent delta variant,” Adhikari said in a news release. “Pregnant women should get immunized as soon as possible.”
Pregnant people who experience symptoms during their coronavirus infection face a two-fold risk of intensive care unit admission and a 70% increased risk of death, according to a CDC study published in November 2020. They are also more likely to have a preterm birth, stillbirth and a newborn infected with COVID-19 that requires admission to the ICU.
Only 31% of pregnant people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of the health advisory’s publication, the CDC said. Vaccination rates are highest among Asian people who are pregnant (46%), followed by “Hispanic or Latino” people (25%) and Black people (16%).
“Pregnancy can be both a special time and also a stressful time – and pregnancy during a pandemic is an added concern for families,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “I strongly encourage those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to talk with their healthcare provider about the protective benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their babies and themselves safe.”
A study published in March also found that pregnant people gain similar levels of antibodies after vaccination than non-pregnant and non-lactating people. What’s more, these antibodies were found in the umbilical cord blood and breast milk of every person included in the study, meaning coronavirus immunity is passed on from mother to baby.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 2:13 PM with the headline "More pregnant people being hospitalized with COVID in Texas — most are unvaccinated."
