Rates Of Seroprevalance Of Covid-19 Among Pregnant Patients In New York City

Universal testing has shown that a proportion of asymptomatic pregnant women test positive for COVID-19 on RT-PCR. This study aimed to assess the seroprevalence of COVID-19. This was a prospective cohort study of women presenting to L&D at a single tertiary care center in NYC. Participants had universal RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 at delivery if not previously positive as part of clinical care and were consented for serology testing between June 24th to July 16th, 2020. Participants underwent SARS-CoV-2 serologic testing via an ELISA assay targeting recombinantly produced and purified S trimer, secreted in a soluble form from transiently transfected HEK293 cells, and N- protein made in E. coli, to detect the presence of IgM and IgG antibodies in maternal serum, with assay sensitivity of 92%. Demographics and outcomes were compared between serology positivity. Forty-seven women enrolled in the study. Fifty-one percent of participants self-identified as Hispanic. Demographics are in Table 1. Overall, 19/47 (40.4%) tested positive for antibodies. Of the 19 women with antibodies detected, 3 noted symptoms of COVID-19 prior to enrollment and four developed symptoms after study enrollment. Of note, 4/ 47 participants (8.5%) had COVID-19 detected on RT-PCR previously during pregnancy or at the time of study enrollment. These four had varied antibody positivity (Table 2). The neonatal and obstetric outcomes were similar between groups. In a group of pregnant women presenting for care on labor and delivery, a large proportion had serologic evidence of exposure to COVID-19, with many not having reported symptoms. Our study supports previously published evidence of asymptomatic viral carriage in the pregnant population and demonstrates evidence of immune system activation by means of serum antibody production.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)