More on Clinical Characteristics of Pregnant Women with Covid-19 in Wuhan, China

Type Journal Article Author Lynne M. Mofenson Author Andrea Ciaranello URL https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2016881 Volume 383 Issue 7 Pages 696-697 Publication New England Journal of Medicine ISSN 0028-4793 Date 08/07/2020 Extra Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2016881 DOI 10.1056/NEJMc2016881 Library Catalog Taylor and Francis+NEJM Abstract To the Editor Chen and colleagues (June 18 issue)1 reported data, obtained from the reporting system of the National Health Commission of China, regarding 118 pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at 50 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 8, 2019, through March 20, 2020. Since January 2020, an additional 27 publications have described pregnancy outcomes among women with Covid-19 at one or more of the same hospitals in Wuhan, with dates that overlap with those covered in the report by Chen et al. If we count all the patients described in these reports as separate patients, then the reports include data on 446 pregnant women with Covid-19 (of whom 45 are still pregnant), as well as 401 births and 293 throat or nasopharyngeal swabs from infants (see the table in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org). Of the infant swabs, 10 were reported as positive for the virus, with the infant’s age at testing ranging from less than 24 hours to 2 days. Chen et al. reported that only 8 of 70 newborns were tested, with no positive results. We assume that the report by Chen et al. encompasses data from previous reports and are concerned about this discrepancy regarding infant test results, given the 10 positive tests reported in previous publications. Greater clarity is needed regarding overlap and inconsistencies with respect to other reports.