Spontaneous Abortion in Pregnancies Having COVID-19 Infection in Bangladesh: A Series of Cases
Tanzina Iveen Chowdhury
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Tasrina Rabia Choudhury *
Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh, Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Md. Mostafizur Rahman
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh.
Nazma Akter
Department of Gynaecological Oncology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Nafisa Anwar Mariana
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, Gazipur, Dhaka 1700, Bangladesh.
M. Jahangir Alam
University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
Tripti Rani Das
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease and spreading all over the world. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to this infectious disease. There are not many reports on missed-abortion or stillbirths in COVID-19 that affected pregnant women. Twelve cases are presented here among a few cases of spontaneous abortion or fetal demise without having remarkable cause other than laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 (RT-PCR) from March 2020 to July 2020 in a single medical university hospital in Bangladesh.
Cases: Enrolled 12 pregnant subjects of fetal demise ≥11 weeks of gestation had COVID-19 infection (RT-PCR) and the specimen taken was nasal swab. 10 patients were admitted to the hospital and 2 patients were managed in their home under the supervision of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). We excluded all the possible causes of clinical and obstetric causes of abortion other than COVID-19 infection. However, most of them were asymptomatic COVID-19 infection carriers, and only had a history of low-grade fever. 5 cases had a history of medical disorder which were controlled before pregnancy.
Conclusion: All the 12 cases did not have any clinical and obstetric disorder during pregnancy, but they all had COVID-19 infection. This suggests COVID-19 infection might induce fetal death through possible inflammation in the placenta.
Keywords: COVID-19, Pregnant women, abortion, case, RT-PCR