A systematic review on effect of COVID-19 in pregnant women

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging disease with a rapid increase in cases and deaths since its first discovery in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. Limited data on COVID-19 during pregnancy are available; however, information on diseases associated with other highly pathogenic coronaviruses (i.e., severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) may provide insight into the effects of COVID-19 during pregnancy. Coronaviruses cause illness ranging from the common cold to severe respiratory disease and death. Currently, COVID-19's primary epidemiological risk factors include travel from mainland China (especially the province of Hubei) or close contact with infected individuals within 14 days of the onset of symptoms. The data indicate a ~5day incubation period (range-2-14 days). The average age of hospitalized patients was 49-56 years, with an underlying illness a third to half. Children were rarely mentioned. Within hospitalized cases men were more frequent (54-73 percent). Fever, cough, myalgia, vomiting and diarrhea are common symptoms. This review aims at giving a in depth understanding on COVID-19 by comparing its effect with SARS and MERS to evaluate its severity in recent times in pregnant women. *Correspondence to: Syed Tazib Rahaman, GITAM Institute of Pharmacy, GITAM (Deemed to be University), Visakhapatnam, India, E-mail: tazib. research@gmail.com