A researcher from the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University, UNIB), Dr. Juan S. Izquierdo, with other researchers, is conducting a study on persistent symptoms of COVID-19 in pregnant women in Ecuador.
After the first wave of massive COVID-19 infections, many people reported that, after recovering, symptoms remained. This situation was confirmed by a recent study that claims that the effects of this virus persist in some individuals. This condition has been referred to as post-COVID or prolonged COVID condition.
Although several studies on COVID-19 are being conducted to better understand it, it is quite difficult to find information on the persistence of symptoms of this infection in specific populations. As in the case of women who were infected during pregnancy.
Based on data from previous pandemics and seasonal influenza, it is known that pregnant women are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with infections. This because of changes in the cardiorespiratory and immune systems in pregnancy that increase susceptibility to serious infections and hypoxic compromise.
The studies that have been conducted on the negative effects of COVID-19 during pregnancy have been limited to describing them; however, the persistent sequelae of this infection during pregnancy have not been studied. In this context, the aim of this research was to study the nature and persistence of symptoms of prolonged COVID in pregnant and non-pregnant women in Ecuador, to determine whether persistent symptoms in pregnant women were different from symptoms in infected non-pregnant women.
Research results
Research results showed that the most common symptoms of prolonged COVID in pregnant women were fatigue, hair loss, and difficulty concentrating. Likewise, the results suggest that the patterns of presentation of long-term sequelae of infection in pregnant women do not differ greatly from the symptoms established by other studies in the general population. Pregnant women who smoke were also found to be at increased risk of fatigue.
If you want to know more about this fascinating study, click here.
For further research, check the UNIB repository.