Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, 20157, Milan, Italy.
Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20122, Milan, Italy.
Reprod Sci. 2021 Oct;28(10):2939-2941. doi: 10.1007/s43032-021-00681-5. Epub 2021 Jul 22.
Pregnant women display a higher risk of progression to disease and higher viral loads during infections due to their more permissive, tolerogenic immune system. However, only few studies have focused on SARS-CoV-2 intrapartum vertical transmission via vaginal secretions or faeces. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of the virus in vaginal, rectal and blood specimens from pregnant women characterized by different COVID-19 disease severity. We enrolled 56 SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnant women, of which 46 (82%) were in the third trimester of pregnancy, 6 (10%) in the second and 4 (7%) in the first. QPCR was performed to detect the virus in vaginal and rectal swabs and in plasma samples. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 27% of rectal swabs of pregnant women in the third trimester, while no virus particles were detected in vaginal swabs of the same patients. Furthermore, only 4% plasma samples tested positive to SARS-CoV-2. No virus was detected in newborn's nasopharyngeal swabs. Despite the low number of subjects enrolled, our data suggest that, while theoretically possible, intrapartum vaginal or orofecal SARS-CoV-2 transmission seems to be unlikely.
孕妇由于其更为宽松、耐受的免疫系统，在感染期间显示出更高的疾病进展风险和更高的病毒载量。然而，只有少数研究集中在通过阴道分泌物或粪便发生的 SARS-CoV-2 围产期垂直传播。本研究旨在调查不同 COVID-19 疾病严重程度的孕妇的阴道、直肠和血液标本中是否存在该病毒。我们招募了 56 名 SARS-CoV-2 阳性孕妇，其中 46 名（82%）处于妊娠晚期，6 名（10%）处于妊娠中期，4 名（7%）处于妊娠早期。通过 qPCR 检测阴道和直肠拭子以及血浆样本中的病毒。在妊娠晚期的 27%的直肠拭子中检测到 SARS-CoV-2，而同一患者的阴道拭子中未检测到病毒颗粒。此外，只有 4%的血浆样本对 SARS-CoV-2 呈阳性。未在新生儿鼻咽拭子中检测到病毒。尽管纳入的受试者数量较少，但我们的数据表明，尽管理论上可能，但围产期阴道或口咽 SARS-CoV-2 传播似乎不太可能。
