Investing in robust surveillance of the effects of covid-19 and future emerging infections in pregnancy should be prioritised

As we write this, covid-19 cases have plateaued again in the UK and across Europe, after rising earlier in the autumn. But many studies specifically focusing on covid-19 in pregnancy have stopped collecting data, so we have no immediate way of assessing the effect of this and future waves of infection on pregnant women. In a recent BMJ Medicine paper we showed that the outcomes of admission to hospital with symptomatic covid-19 among unvaccinated pregnant women were similar during the omicron dominance period and the wild type period.1 This comparison was only possible because of ongoing pregnancy surveillance and provided real world evidence of the protective effect of vaccination against severe disease in pregnancy.Nevertheless, we still have concerns around vaccination rates among pregnant women and messaging around immunisation during pregnancy. We have both drawn perspectives from our different countries. In the UK, the latest vaccination rates are around 70%, with…
Read Original Article: Investing in robust surveillance of the effects of covid-19 and future emerging infections in pregnancy should be prioritised »