A comprehensive review of the impact of COVID-19 on human reproductive biology, assisted reproduction care and pregnancy
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(2020) 13:140
REVIEW
Open Access
A comprehensive review of the impact of COVID-19 on human reproductive biology, assisted reproduction care and pregnancy: a Canadian perspective Mitko Madjunkov1,2* , Michal Dviri1,2 and Clifford Librach1,2,3,4*
Abstract Currently, the world is in the seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, infections with novel SARS-CoV-2 virus are continuously rising with mounting numbers of deaths. International and local public health responses, almost in synchrony, imposed restrictions to minimize spread of the virus, overload of health system capacity, and deficit of personal protective equipment (PPE). Although in most cases the symptoms are mild or absent, SARSCoV-2 infection can lead to serious acute respiratory disease and multisystem failure. The research community responded to this new disease with a high level of transparency and data sharing; with the aim to better understand the origin, pathophysiology, epidemiology and clinical manifestations. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop vaccines for prevention, mitigation strategies, as well as potential therapeutics. The aim of this review is to summarize current knowledge regarding the novel SARS CoV-2, including its pathophysiology and epidemiology, as well as, what is known about the potential impact of COVID-19 on reproduction, fertility care, pregnancy and neonatal outcome. This summary also evaluates the effects of this pandemic on reproductive care and research, from Canadian perspective, and discusses future implications. In summary, reported data on pregnant women is limited, suggesting that COVID-19 symptoms and severity of the disease during pregnancy are similar to those in non-pregnant women, with pregnancy outcomes closely related to severity of maternal disease. Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 effects on gametes is limited. Human reproduction societies have issued guidelines for practice during COVID-19 pandemic that include implementation of mitigation practices and infection control protocols in fertility care units. In Canada, imposed restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic were successful in containing spread of the infection, allowing for eventual resumption of assisted reproductive treatments under new guidelines for practice. Canada dedicated funds to support COVID-19 research including a surveillance study to monitor outcomes of COVID-19 during pregnancy and assisted reproduction. Continuous evaluation of new evidence must be in place to carefully adjust recommendations on patient management during assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and in pregnancy. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, ART-assisted reproductive technologies, Pregnancy, Reproduction
* Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 1 CReATe Fertility Centre, 790 Bay Street, Suite 1100, Toronto M5G1N8, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which pe
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