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J Clin Med
. 2021 Jun 21;10(12):2735.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10122735.
Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in the Vaginal Secretions of Women with COVID-19: A Prospective Study
Elad Barber 1 2 , Michal Kovo 1 2 , Sophia Leytes 1 2 , Ron Sagiv 1 2 , Eran Weiner 1 2 , Orna Schwartz 2 3 , Margarita Mashavi 2 4 , Keren Holtzman 2 5 , Jacob Bar 1 2 , Anat Engel 2 5 , Shimon Ginath 1 2
Affiliations
- PMID: 34205751
- DOI: 10.3390/jcm10122735
Abstract
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.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; vaginal secretions.