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COVID-19 in Pregnancy: Occupations With Higher Density of Population Exposure Associated With More Severe Disease
Jill E Miracle1, Prakash R Ganesh, Johnie Rose
1Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Miracle, Dr Ganesh, Dr Rose, Dr Terebuh, Dr Stange, Ms Szabo, and Dr Gullett); University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Miracle, Dr Ganesh, Dr Terebuh, and Dr Pope); Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Parma, Ohio (Dr Miracle, Dr Ganesh, Dr Rose, Dr Terebuh, Dr Wolfe, Szabo, Dr Gullett, and Dr Pope).
Objective:
To define the symptomatology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and associations between occupation, sociodemographic factors, and comorbidities with the severity of COVID-19 disease in pregnancy in all trimesters, regardless of hospitalization.
Methods:
We studied a retrospective cohort of a public health surveillance sample of persons with COVID-19 infection diagnosed during pregnancy. Data was collected March 2020 to August 2020 regarding symptoms, disease severity, comorbidities, obstetric history, and occupation.
Results:
One hundred sixty-three individuals were identified. Constitutional (64%) and lower respiratory symptoms (61%) were most common. Seventeen individuals (13.6%) were hospitalized, and one person (0.7%) died due to COVID-19. Risk factors for severe disease were age and an occupation that had high intensity exposure to people.
Conclusions:
Occupational exposure is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease in pregnancy, justifying policy measures to ensure protection of this vulnerable population.
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