Post lockdown COVID-19 seroprevalence and circulation at the time of delivery, France.

• Main Authors: Jérémie Mattern, Christelle Vauloup-Fellous, Hoda Zakaria, Alexandra Benachi, Julie Carrara, Alexandra Letourneau, Nadège Bourgeois-Nicolaos, Daniele De Luca, Florence Doucet-Populaire, Alexandre J Vivanti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240782

<h4>Background</h4>To fight the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown has been decreed in many countries worldwide. The impact of pregnancy as a severity risk factor is still debated, but strict lockdown measures have been recommended for pregnant women.<h4>Objectives</h4>To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the seroprevalence and circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in a maternity ward in an area that has been significantly affected by the virus.<h4>Study design</h4>Prospective study at the Antoine Béclère Hospital maternity ward (Paris area, France) from May 4 (one week before the end of lockdown) to May 31, 2020 (three weeks after the end of lockdown). All patients admitted to the delivery room during this period were offered a SARS-CoV-2 serology test as well concomitant SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on one nasopharyngeal sample.<h4>Results</h4>A total of 249 women were included. Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 8%. The RT-PCR positive rate was 0.5%. 47.4% of the SARS-CoV-2-IgG-positive pregnant women never experienced any symptoms. A history of symptoms during the epidemic, such as fever (15.8%), myalgia (36.8%) and anosmia (31.6%), was suggestive of previous infection.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Three weeks after the end of French lockdown, SARS-CoV-2 infections were scarce in our region. A very high proportion of SARS-CoV-2-IgG-negative pregnant women, which is comparable to that of the general population, must be taken into consideration in the event of a resurgence of the pandemic. The traces of a past active circulation of the virus in this fragile population during the spring wave should encourage public health authorities to take specific measures for this independent at-risk group, in order to reduce viral circulation in pregnant patients.