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Dear IMPRINT members,
 
We hope you are all safe and remain cheerful! Spring is only round the corner!!

As probably most of us, IMPRINT is also continuing to work remotely. To keep us all connected to the subject, we would like to offer a series of monthly webinars that will cover topical questions relating to maternal/infant immunisation in times of COVID-19 – very topical topical just now with the different recommendations in different countries and lot of questions we are getting from pregnant women around the vaccines.

To kick off the series, we have invited Prof. Asma Khalil, Professor of Obstetrics at St George’s Hospital, University of London, and Dr Beth Holder, Lecturer in Maternal and Fetal Health at Imperial College London. Prof. Khalil will give a presentation on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy, Dr Holder will talk about fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 across the placenta. Please find more details on the presentations below.

The webinar will take place on 3 February at 15:00-16:30 GMT. The 20-minute presentations will each be followed by a Q&A session with speakers and audience that are moderated by our Network Directors Prof. Beate Kampmann from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Dr Chrissie Jones from the University of Southampton.
 
For registration, please follow this link: https://lshtm.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yv-ZRehNTf6LZCcJYZQgiQ


Presentations

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy
Prof. Asma Khalil, St George’s Hospital, University of London

SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of preterm birth and Caesarean section. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on healthcare systems, societal structures and the world economy. The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and neonatal health are not limited to the morbidity and mortality caused directly by the disease itself. Nationwide lockdowns, disruption of healthcare services and fear of attending healthcare facilities may also have had an impact on the wellbeing of pregnant people and babies.
There is emerging evidence suggesting that rates of stillbirth and preterm birth may have changed significantly during the pandemic. A reduction in healthcare-seeking behaviour, as well as reduced provision of maternity services, has been suggested as a possible cause. Robust estimates of the indirect maternal health effects of the pandemic can be derived from published studies by examining the change in outcomes and calculating the excess event rate. Global maternal and fetal outcomes have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with reported increase in maternal mortality, preterm birth and stillbirth, with possible disparity between high and low resource settings. There is an urgent need to prioritise safe, accessible and equitable maternity care within the strategic response to this pandemic and in future health crises.
 
Is there mother to fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 across the placenta?
Dr Beth Holder, Imperial College London

During pregnancy, the placenta forms a selective barrier between maternal and fetal circulations, protecting the developing fetus from many pathogens. However, some pathogens can cross the placenta to infect the fetus, resulting in developmental complications. This was seen with the Zika virus pandemic, which caused severe congenital malformations of the brain. Therefore, when the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic began to circle the globe, there was an understandable worry that the virus could cross the placenta to infect the developing fetus. Although in some rare cases babies may have been infected around the time of birth, luckily, the SARS-CoV-2 virus does not appear to routinely cross the placenta to infect the fetus. In this session, I will explain congenital infection (infection of the fetus during pregnancy) and critically review the studies that have attempted to investigate transmission of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, across the placenta.
 

Best wishes,
Christoph

On behalf of the IMPRINT Management Board

Dr. Christoph Cyranski, IMPRINT network

LINQ management GmbH, Friedbergstr. 35, 14057 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 300 96 447
http://www.linq-management.com/
http://www.imprint-network.co.uk/
Twitter: @IMPRINT_network







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