{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "b0982613f5114ff88bfb3659a42c5b1a", "timestamp": "2026-08-20T21:38:02.378Z", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/b0982613f5114ff88bfb3659a42c5b1a.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/b0982613f5114ff88bfb3659a42c5b1a"}}, "title": "SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection in pregnant women: characterization of symptoms and syndromes predictive of disease and severity through real-time, remote participatory epidemiology.", "authors": [{"family": "Molteni", "given": "Erika", "initials": "E", "orcid": "0000-0001-7773-8140", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/1985f3f3735b43f2939b9cf9295d67c5.json"}}, {"family": "Astley", "given": "Christina M", "initials": "CM"}, {"family": "Ma", "given": "Wenjie", "initials": "W"}, {"family": "Sudre", "given": "Carole H", "initials": "CH"}, {"family": "Magee", "given": "Laura A", "initials": "LA"}, {"family": "Murray", "given": "Benjamin", "initials": "B"}, {"family": "Fall", "given": "Tove", "initials": "T"}, {"family": "Gomez", "given": "Maria F", "initials": "MF"}, {"family": "Tsereteli", "given": "Neli", "initials": "N"}, {"family": "Franks", "given": "Paul W", "initials": "PW"}, {"family": "Brownstein", "given": "John S", "initials": "JS"}, {"family": "Davies", "given": "Richard", "initials": "R"}, {"family": "Wolf", "given": "Jonathan", "initials": "J"}, {"family": "Spector", "given": "Tim D", "initials": "TD"}, {"family": "Ourselin", "given": "Sebastien", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "Steves", "given": "Claire J", "initials": "CJ"}, {"family": "Chan", "given": "Andrew T", "initials": "AT"}, {"family": "Modat", "given": "Marc", "initials": "M"}], "type": "preprint", "published": "2020-10-14", "journal": {"title": "medRxiv", "issn-l": null}, "abstract": "To test whether pregnant and non-pregnant women differ in COVID-19 symptom profile and severity. To extend previous investigations on hospitalized pregnant women to those who did not require hospitalization.\n\nObservational study prospectively collecting longitudinal (smartphone application interface) and cross-sectional (web-based survey) data.\n\nCommunity-based self-participatory citizen surveillance in the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States of America.\n\nTwo female community-based cohorts aged 18-44 years. The discovery cohort was drawn from 1,170,315 UK, Sweden and USA women (79 pregnant tested positive) who self-reported status and symptoms longitudinally via smartphone. The replication cohort included 1,344,966 USA women (134 pregnant tested positive) who provided cross-sectional self-reports.\n\nPregnant and non-pregnant were compared for frequencies of symptoms and events, including SARS-CoV-2 testing and hospitalization rates. Multivariable regression was used to investigate symptoms severity and comorbidity effects.\n\nPregnant and non-pregnant women positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection were not different in syndromic severity. Pregnant were more likely to have received testing than non-pregnant, despite reporting fewer symptoms. Pre-existing lung disease was most closely associated with the syndromic severity in pregnant hospitalized women. Heart and kidney diseases and diabetes increased risk. The most frequent symptoms among all non-hospitalized women were anosmia [63% pregnant, 92% non-pregnant] and headache [72%, 62%]. Cardiopulmonary symptoms, including persistent cough [80%] and chest pain [73%], were more frequent among pregnant women who were hospitalized.\n\nSymptom characteristics and severity were comparable among pregnant and non-pregnant women, except for gastrointestinal symptoms. Consistent with observations in non-pregnant populations, lung disease and diabetes were associated with increased risk of more severe SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.", "doi": "10.1101/2020.08.17.20161760", "pmid": "32839787", "labels": [], "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC7444306"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "2020.08.17.20161760"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-08-20T09:58:38.022Z", "modified": "2026-08-20T09:58:38.073Z"}