Today I saw a Weibo post reprinting a screenshot of a news article by the Associated Press (AP) about the impact of the new crown virus on the fetus, titled "Coronavirus can destroy the placenta and lead to stillbirth."
Image source: Screenshot of Sina Weibo
The news content itself didn't actually interest me, but the addition to the news headline above the screenshot did raise my interest.
Because whether the flu can increase the risk of stillbirth has been controversial.
But let's start with this COVID-19 study.
【About this news】
Before talking about specific research, let's talk about the Associated Press news.
In fact, compared to the AP's news headlines, Kaitlin Sullivan of NBC next door also posted a similar content, titled "Although rare, COVID-19 can destroy the placenta and cause stillbirth."
Some media outlets have titled the title "'No fetus can survive that': How COVID-19can attack the placenta" to make it even more eye-catching.
Image source: today.com
The headline instantly gave the impression of what catastrophic consequences a fetus would face if a pregnant woman contracted the coronavirus.
However, regardless of the headline, the meaning points to a conclusion: once a pregnant woman is infected with the new crown virus, the fetus in the abdomen will face a high risk of death.
So is this the latest discovery? Once infected with the new crown virus, the fetus can not be saved? Not really.
【Coronavirus and Placenta】
When it comes to the impact of the new crown virus on the placenta, it is not a new topic.
In fact, as early as May 2020, researchers in the United States have published a preprint of the study of placental pathology, studying the placenta of 16 pregnant women infected with the new crown virus.
Image source: screenshot of medRxiv
Unlike the study in the news, 94% (15/16) of the studies were live births, with only one stillbirth.
In this study, it was also found that all placentas exhibited one of the features of MVM, such as abnormal or damaged maternal blood vessels, as well as intervilli thrombosis, while the placenta of stillbirths showed villous edema and postplacental hematoma.
Therefore, the impact of the new crown virus on the placenta is not actually a recent situation, but from the time of the epidemic of the original strain, it was found that the virus can cause damage to the placenta, and some features were also found through pathological analysis.
France has also done research on pregnant women's infection with the new crown virus: a retrospective cohort study in France on November 30, 2021 showed that pregnant women infected with the new crown virus had more postpartum haemorrhage, preterm birth, fetal distress, etc., but there was no significant difference between stillbirth and placental abruption and pregnant women who were not infected with the new crown virus.
Image source: Screenshot of PLOS MEDICINE
Since then, various related studies have emerged, which have further confirmed the effect of placental changes on pregnancy outcomes, and will not be repeated here.
【Research mentioned in the news】
Yesterday, I was still talking to a teacher who worked on an evidence-based data retrieval platform: A certain software is for many professionals to use lazily, because it is a conclusion, and some people will no longer read the original literature after reading the conclusion.
In fact, not only a certain software, but also news, will make many people quickly accept a certain conclusion. This is not to say that the news is wrong, but just to say that some information still needs to be traced back to the details, otherwise you may miss a lot of valuable details.
For example, the news is the "Death after VACCINATION XX Vaccine" that is popular in some media, if you do not trace back to other information, many people may have their first reaction is that the vaccine is unsafe and causes the death of the recipient, but in fact, this kind of news is often a beginning and an end, and the final investigation and identification conclusions are no longer tracked, and there is no more detail.
Pull it away and get back to the main theme.