Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun:73:81-90.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2021.03.010. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

COVID-19 in Women's health: Epidemiology

Jennifer Jardine  1 , Edward Morris  2
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 in Women's health: Epidemiology

Jennifer Jardine et al. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

The disease COVID-19 emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread, causing a pandemic that is ongoing and has resulted in more than two million deaths worldwide. COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which spreads effectively by direct contact with an infected person or contaminated surface, droplet or aerosol transmission. Vertical transmission, if it does occur, is rare. Among women of childbearing age, most will have mild or asymptomatic infection; severe illness is uncommon. Severe illness is more common in the later stages of pregnancy, when it is associated with complications, including intensive care admission, maternal death and an increased risk of iatrogenic preterm birth. Women who are older, from minority ethnic groups, who are overweight or obese, who have comorbidities or who live with socioeconomic deprivation are more likely to experience severe illness than women without these characteristics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Epidemiology; Transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest EM is the President of the RCOG. JJ is employed by the RCOG.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Martini M., Gazzaniga V., Bragazzi N.L., Barberis I. The Spanish Influenza Pandemic: a lesson from history 100 years after 1918. J Prev Med Hyg. 2019;60:E64–E67. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.1.1205. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kain T., Fowler R. Preparing intensive care for the next pandemic influenza. Crit Care. 2019;23:337. doi: 10.1186/s13054-019-2616-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yong E. Trials at the ready: preparing for the next pandemic. BMJ. 2012;344 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e2982. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Su S., Wong G., Shi W., Liu J., Lai A.C.K., Zhou J., et al. Epidemiology, genetic recombination, and pathogenesis of coronaviruses. Trends Microbiol. 2016;24:490–502. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2016.03.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cui J., Li F., Shi Z.-L. Origin and evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019;17:181–192. doi: 10.1038/s41579-018-0118-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed