The coronavirus particularly strikes the most vulnerable categories of the population, such as the elderly or patients already suffering from chronic diseases. But what about pregnant women? If they get the virus, can they pass it on to the fetus? Doctor Jimmy Mohamed gave some answers in Sans Rendez-Vous, Thursday, on Europe 1.
Hypotheses have been put forward as to the complications which could be engendered in the event of contracting the disease. Among these hypotheses are premature delivery, miscarriage or even transmission of the disease to the fetus. "A scientific study, published by the journal The Lancet on March 7, precisely exposes the cases of nine pregnant women who contracted the coronavirus," explains Jimmy Mohamed. The latter come from Wuhan, the Chinese focus of the pandemic which is affecting the whole world today. All of them therefore caught the virus, but "none presented a severe form" of it. "No deaths either" was to be deplored among the nine women studied. These observations should however be put into perspective given the small number of cases studied.
What about the baby?
>> Find the whole of Sans rendez-vous in replay and podcast here
Pregnant women can therefore be treated normally. But what about the fetus? "The coronavirus is absolutely not teratogenic for children, that is to say that there is no risk of malformation," says Jimmy Mohamed. "There is also no risk of transmission from mother to child," he reassures. In short, pregnant women must take the same precautions as the whole population, without being overly alarmed.
As a reminder, according to the latest figures, 2,281 cases of coronavirus were identified in France and 48 people died because of the virus. In addition, 105 patients are currently in intensive care. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron will make a televised address Thursday evening at 8 pm to explain the direction that the country will take to stem the pandemic.