Epidemiological Trends of SARS-CoV-2 Infections during Pregnancy in Chicago
Session Number
Project ID: MEDH 01
Advisor(s)
Leena Mithal, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Mary J. Akel, Ashwin Sunderraj, Ramon Lorenzo Redondo, Jeffery Goldstein, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Discipline
Medical and Health Sciences
Start Date
17-4-2024 10:00 AM
End Date
17-4-2024 10:15 AM
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many individuals and the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infections has varied significantly across age groups. Pregnant people were especially vulnerable and at higher risk of more severe infections. We investigated epidemiologic trends of SARS-CoV-2 cases in pregnant people compared to trends in children and adults in Chicago. We identified positive SARS-CoV-2 pregnancies (March 2020-November 2022) at Prentice Women’s Hospital and SARS-CoV-2 cases in children (0-17 years) and adults (≥18 years) from the Chicago Department of Public Health. We then visualized our data using Excel and conducted statistical analysis including negative binomial models, granger causality modeling, and the “decompose()” function to assess seasonality. Our results showed that while all groups shared similar trends with notable seasonality and variant surges, SARS-CoV-2 cases in pregnancy were more statistically associated with adult cases (p=0.006) than children (p=0.2). Analysis limited to the first year of the pandemic yielded consistent results (adult <0.001, children p=0.2). It remains important to study epidemiological trends in order to develop effective and tailored public health mitigation strategies aimed to protect vulnerable populations including pregnant people.
Epidemiological Trends of SARS-CoV-2 Infections during Pregnancy in Chicago
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many individuals and the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infections has varied significantly across age groups. Pregnant people were especially vulnerable and at higher risk of more severe infections. We investigated epidemiologic trends of SARS-CoV-2 cases in pregnant people compared to trends in children and adults in Chicago. We identified positive SARS-CoV-2 pregnancies (March 2020-November 2022) at Prentice Women’s Hospital and SARS-CoV-2 cases in children (0-17 years) and adults (≥18 years) from the Chicago Department of Public Health. We then visualized our data using Excel and conducted statistical analysis including negative binomial models, granger causality modeling, and the “decompose()” function to assess seasonality. Our results showed that while all groups shared similar trends with notable seasonality and variant surges, SARS-CoV-2 cases in pregnancy were more statistically associated with adult cases (p=0.006) than children (p=0.2). Analysis limited to the first year of the pandemic yielded consistent results (adult <0.001, children p=0.2). It remains important to study epidemiological trends in order to develop effective and tailored public health mitigation strategies aimed to protect vulnerable populations including pregnant people.