Brazil has over the weeks become the epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic. Recently, the Brazilian Ministry of Health gave an unprecedented advice to women:that of postponing their pregnancy plans as far as possible.
Today, Brazil is one of the three most affected countries in the world along with the United States and India. No less than 373,000 people lost their lives due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. We recently mentioned the famous P1 variant called "Brazilian variant", more contagious, more virulent and possibly more resistant to vaccines. As if that were not enough, this variant would also affect pregnant women more than previous versions of the coronavirus, as explained by the Reuters news agency on April 17, 2021.
The day before this publication, Raphael Parente, Secretary of Primary Health Care of the Brazilian Ministry made an unprecedented statement during a press conference. On this occasion, he advised women to delay their pregnancy plans until a better moment in order to live their pregnancy calmly.
This recommendation comes as the Brazilian hospital system is on the verge of saturation. Importantly, a study conducted locally (but not yet peer-reviewed) reported more than 1.8 to 2.6-fold transmissibility and a 1.1 to 1.8 times higher virulence than common variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. According to the study, some women were affected by severe forms of the disease during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.
Also remember that the P1 variant affects a younger population. As of March 2021, more than half of intensive care patients were 40 years old or younger . However, a gray area hovers over this mortality among the youngest. Is the latter really related to a greater virulence of the variant or to a greater exposure of this age group? It should be remembered that despite the importance of the epidemic in Brazil, no coordination exists at the national level regarding social distancing measures and other restrictions.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro indeed continues to reject the confinement of the population . He is also continuing to organize major events where barrier gestures are non-existent. The vaccination campaign is facing many delays which only add to other problems such as a near saturation of hospitals as well as stock-outs of vaccines and other drugs.
