Review Article

Year : 2020 | Volume : 4 | Issue : 2 | Page : 23 - 29

Pregnancy and infections: A review

M. P. Brundha

Department of Pathology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. M. P. Brundha, Department of Pathology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and

Technical Sciences, Chennai ‐ 600 077, Tamil Nadu, India.

E‐mail: mpbrundha7@gmail.com

Abstract

Before the advent of antibiotic agents, pregnancy was a recognized risk factor for severe complications of pneumococcal pneumonia, including death.The influenza pandemic of 2009 provided a more recent reminder that certain infections may disproportionately affect pregnant women. During pregnancy, several mechanical and pathophysiological changes occur (e.g., a decrease in respiratory volumes and urinary stasis due to an enlarging uterus), and immune adaptations are required to accommodate the fetus. In this article, we review and synthesize new knowledge about the severity of and susceptibility to infections in pregnant women. We focus on the infections for which there is evidence of increased severity or susceptibility during pregnancy that is not fully explained by mechanical or anatomical changes, and we discuss these infections in light of new findings on immunologic changes during pregnancy.

Keywords: Pregnancy, virus, bacteria, fungal, infections

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article:

Brundha MP. Pregnancy and infections: A review. Int J Clinicopathol Correl 2020;4:23-9.