Covid 19 & vertical transmission

Abstract

The current coronavirus pandemic is a serious public health emergency and has led to widespread damage globally. Although there are many coronaviruses, the particular that is responsible for this pandemic is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).It has incubation period of around 2 to 7 days and most symptomatic patients can have fever, malaise, cough, or loss of taste or smell, with some cases developing into life threatening pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome with case fatality rates range from 1% to 2%. Pregnancy is considered as a vulnerable group for any infection and knowledge regarding the possible risk of vertical transmission of this virus is very limited but is important for counseling regarding COVID-19 related pregnancy risks and for further management. COVID 19 infection in mothers basically leads to hypoxia, inflammatory response & cytokine storm. It appears around 10% of SARS- Cov-2 infected pregnant women require hospitalization with respiratory support    COVID-19 can infect the placenta as confirmed by the presence of SARSCoV- 2 viral RNA in the placenta and evidence of virions found within the syncytiotrophoblast. The possible neonatal outcomes are increased risk of