NEW Updates on Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition and COVID-19 – excerpts from scientific journal articles – 10 December 2020
Dear Colleagues,
We have updated our scientific repository<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhopkins....
Since our last update Thursday 3 December 2020, we have added 127 NEW publications for December (44 new), November (51 new), October (16 new), September (5 new), August (5 new), July (5 new), and May (1 new). Click here to view the updated repository<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhopkins...
Individual months are located on the right-hand side, and new additions are marked in blue. To find the publication or topic of your interest, you can search in an individual month file using the Ctrl+F keys.
All publications provide emerging evidence related to COVID-19 and
* Child health (from neonates to adolescents)
* Maternal health (pregnant women, women of reproductive age)
* Breastfeeding and Infant feeding
* Nutrition (related to MCH)
In addition to several international reviews, this update provides emerging evidence from Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Spain, India, Canada, Poland, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Korea, the Netherlands, Mexico, China, Iran, Switzerland, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, and Tanzania.
Ten new articles focus on vaccination issues. While some articles discuss decreasing immunization rates among school-aged children, others examine potential cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 from vaccines commonly administered to children and pregnant women.
One study examines thoughts and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine among parents in Turkey, while others review current evidence on age-specific transmission rates and infection-fatality rates associated with SARS-CoV-2 in order to inform public health policies regarding vaccination.
Recent literature often weighs the risks and benefits of including pregnant women and children in COVID-19 vaccine trials as gaps in evidence regarding safety and efficacy may limit vaccine uptake among these groups.
Several articles discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health. This update includes recommendations to ensure that the COVID-19 pandemic does not reverse recent gains in women’s education, reproductive health, and HIV prevention. Lessons learned from the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa indicate that the current pandemic may limit access to HIV testing, contraception, antiretroviral treatment, and pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Other articles discuss the disrupted access to safe abortion care in the US during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as potential changes in global fertility due to economic anxiety, changes in family planning behavior, and reduced access to family planning services.
Forty-one new articles focus on COVID-19 and pregnancy. Recent studies compared rates of preterm births and stillbirths during the COVID-19 pandemic to previous years. Studies from India and the US describe the fear and anxiety associated with childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple articles examine both the direct effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the indirect effects of maternal stress on fetal development.
Delayed care-seeking among pregnant women and reduced prenatal visits have also led to missed opportunities in identifying at-risk pregnancies. Discussion of disrupted maternal health services in low- and middle-income countries is also complemented by concrete strategies to build more resilient maternal health services in preparation of future public health crises.
Sixteen articles were added concerning breastfeeding and infant feeding in the context of COVID-19. Several studies determined the rates of SARS-CoV-2 transmission among newborns who roomed with and were breastfed by their mothers. This update also includes updated guidelines for rooming-in practices and breastfeeding based on current evidence. COVID-19 has also impacted donor milk banks, leading to updated milk banking recommendations and modified protocols, illustrated by a case study of one milk bank in India. Another article outlines the rights of pregnant and breastfeeding women in the workplace according to US law, organized into a handout for employees.
This is by no means an exhaustive list! Look out for our next weekly update Thursday, 17 December, 2020. Currently, we have over 3700 publications in the repository.
We also have a specific repository only on COVID-19, Breastfeeding, Infant Feeding, and Breast Milk.<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhopkins...
The next update for that will be Friday, 18 December 2020. If you know anyone who would benefit from any of these updates, please let me know.
Happy reading!
Mija Ververs
CHIFA profile: Mija Tesse Cora Ververs is a Health Scientist (CDC), Senior Associate (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, United States.
Email: mververs AT jhu.edu
