Upper respiratory tract infection during pregnancy: is it associated with adverse perinatal outcome?

We sought to determine whether there is an association between upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) requiring hospitalization during pregnancy and adverse perinatal complications. A retrospective population-based study comparing all singleton pregnancies of patients with and without URTI requiring hospitalization was performed. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to control for confounders. Data were collected from the computerized perinatal database. Out of 186,373 deliveries, 0.13% ( N = 246) required hospitalization due to URTI during pregnancy. URTI was significantly associated with preterm deliveries (PTD; 15.9% versus 7.9%; P < 0.001), lower birth weight (3082 +/- 624 versus 3183 +/- 546 g; P < 0.001), and higher rate of cesarean deliveries (CD; 20.3% versus 13.2%; P < 0.001) as compared with the comparison group. Even after controlling for possible confounders using multivariable analyses, the significant association between URTI and PTD (weighted odds ratio [OR] = 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 3.1; P < 0.001) and CD (weighted OR = 1.5; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.2; P = 0.020) persisted. In contrast, no significant association was documented between URTI and premature rapture of membranes (4.9% versus 6.9%; P = 0.212), low Apgar scores (< 7) at 5 minutes (0.4% versus 0.6%; P = 0.761), and perinatal mortality (0 to 4% versus 1.3%; P = 0.223). Maternal URTI requiring hospitalization is an independent risk factor for PTD and CD.