Objective: We aimed to investigate the likelihood of vaginal colonization with Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pregnant and non-pregnant women with Coronavrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: Vaginal swabs were taken from women diagnosed with mild to moderately acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, at Wolfson Medical Center, Israel, from March 2020 through October 2020. COVID-19 was diagnosed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on nasopharyngeal swabs. Vaginal swabs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: In total, 51 women diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in the study. Of the 51 women with COVID-19 enrolled in this study, 16 (31.4%) were pregnant at enrollment and 35 (68.6%) were non-pregnant. Mean age was 43.5 ± 15.3 years (range 21–74 years). Compared to the non-pregnant group, the pregnant group was characterized by a higher white blood cell and absolute neutrophil count ( p = 0.02 and p = 0.027, respectively). The non-pregnant patients were more likely to have chronic diseases ( p = 0.035) and to be hospitalized ( p < 0.001). Only one patient (1.9%) aged 60 years tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in vaginal secretions. Mean gestational age at the diagnosis of COVID-19 of the pregnant group was 32.3 ± 7.8 weeks. Thirteen patients delivered during the study period; all delivered at term without obstetric complications and all neonates were healthy. Conclusions: Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the vaginal secretions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 is rare. Vaginal colonization may occur during the viremia phase of the disease, although infectivity from vaginal colonization needs to be proven.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, vaginal secretions, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus, Hospitalized, detection, RT-PCR, chronic disease, Neonate, White blood cell, Viremia, nasopharyngeal swabs, Patient, Complication, Mild, age, reverse transcription, Swab, women, pregnant, Obstetric, acute respiratory syndrome, Enrollment, secretion, center, acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, material, absolute neutrophil count, positive, likelihood, polymerase chain, enrolled, tested, performed, healthy, diagnosed, the disease, characterized, occur, diagnosed with COVID-19, diagnosis of COVID-19, Vaginal, with COVID-19, Wolfson, 【제목키워드】 Prospective, Vaginal,