COVID-19 has become the leading cause of maternal death for pregnant women, warned the general director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO / WHO).
270 thousand pregnant women have fallen ill with COVID-19 in the Americas
In her weekly press conference, Clarissa F. Etienne, called that so far, more than 270 thousand pregnant women have fallen ill with COVID-19 in the Americas. And more than 2,600 of them, representing 1% of those infected, have died from the virus.
Most countries in the Americas region, he said, have already reported more cases and deaths among pregnant women this year than in all of 2020.
“Although the data varies from country to country, some are monitoring it very closely. The reported risk is especially high in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, which together account for half of all COVID deaths among pregnant women in our region, “he said.
In Mexico and Colombia, COVID-19 has become the leading cause of maternal death in 2021
Faced with this situation, he insisted that the countries of America should prioritize pregnant women. And in the lactation stage in the distribution of vaccines against COVID-19. On the other hand, he stressed that vaccines have the ability to protect mothers and their babies from serious illness and death.
He pointed out that at least 40% of the countries in the region have registered interruptions in medical care for mothers and children. These disruptions have become even more extensive during the second year of the pandemic in some countries.
All pregnant women should receive the vaccine
PAHO recommended that all pregnant women, who are in the phase after the first trimester. As well as those who are breastfeeding, receive the vaccine against SARS-CoV-3.
“In Mexico, where pregnant women have long been prioritized, not a single vaccinated woman has died from COVID-19 during pregnancy,” he added.
They observe a drop in new infections
PAHO observed a sustained drop in the reporting of new cases of COVID-19 in Mexico. Active cases have gone from about 120,000 three weeks ago to about 90,000 this week. While the mortality rate is still above a thousand deaths a day, said Ciro Ugarte, Director of Health Emergencies at PAHO.
He announced that in the last week, there were more than 1.5 million cases and more than 22 thousand deaths related to Covid-19 in the Americas.
“Today we are seeing almost double the infections that were registered at this time last year,” he stressed.
The advance of DELTA
Referring to the Delta variant, he pointed out that according to the most recent information, this variant already represents more than 96% of the sequences reported for the entire country. This, during the last epidemiological week and up to 98% in Mexico City.
In the last epidemiological weeks, the greatest circulation of Delta has been observed in the states of Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo and Veracruz, and Mexico City.
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