ABSTRACT
Many underlying medical conditions have been linked to worse COVID-19 prognosis. Based on reports on SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome infections, pregnancy has been considered a predisposing factor to severe COVID-19, with pregnant women being a high-risk group for several physiological reasons. Specifically, pregnant women undergo physiological adaptations that predispose them to severe respiratory viral diseases, including SARS-CoV-2. However, a significant amount of evidence suggests that the clinical outcome of COVID-19 among pregnant women is not different from the general population. In view of this, this report discusses the physiological conditions in pregnant women that adversely affect their immunity, cardiovascular homeostasis, and their endothelial and coagulopathic functions, thereby making them more prone to severe viral infections. We also discuss how these physiological adaptations appear to paradoxically offer protection against severe COVID-19 among pregnant women.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/epidemiology , Pregnant Women , Prognosis , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Viral diseases remain a significant global health threat, and therefore prioritization of limited healthcare resources is required to effectively manage dangerous viral disease outbreaks. In a pandemic of a newly emerged virus that is yet to be well understood, a noninvasive host-derived prognostic biomarker is invaluable for risk prediction. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW), an index of red blood cell size disorder (anisocytosis), is a potential predictive biomarker for severity of many diseases. In view of the need to prioritize resources during response to outbreaks, this review highlights the prospects and challenges of RDW as a prognostic biomarker for viral infections, with a focus on hepatitis and COVID-19, and provides an outlook to improve the prognostic performance of RDW for risk prediction in viral diseases.
