Infekcinės ligos ISSN 1822-8771 | eISSN 2783-6665

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus contributed to a global health crisis. Pregnant women are considered a vulnerable population that can develop severe SARS-CoV-2 infections due to physiological changes during pregnancy that affect a wide range of functions, causing cardiovascular instability, bleeding disorders, respiratory and immune dysfunction. These factors may adversely affect the course of COVID-19. In addition to pregnancy, a pregnant woman may have additional risk factors, including diabetes, obesity, advanced age (pregnancy >35 years), or chronic cardiovascular or respiratory disease. Early studies indicate that COVID-19 increases the risk of serious illness and death in pregnant women. In addition, COVID-19 was associated with adverse fetal outcomes as preterm birth. The mechanisms underlying the increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 are not well-understood but may be related to the direct effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the placenta and the fetus, as well as the indirect effects of systemic inflammation and cytokine storm. During the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in particular has been shown to be associated with severe disease. The new coronavirus variants pre-delta, as well as the omicron variant, seem to be generally associated with a milder course of disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus contributed to a global health crisis. Pregnant women are considered a vulnerable population that can develop severe SARS-CoV-2 infections due to physiological changes during pregnancy that affect a wide range of functions, causing cardiovascular instability, bleeding disorders, respiratory and immune dysfunction. These factors may adversely affect the course of COVID-19. In addition to pregnancy, a pregnant woman may have additional risk factors, including diabetes, obesity, advanced age (pregnancy >35 years), or chronic cardiovascular or respiratory disease. Early studies indicate that COVID-19 increases the risk of serious illness and death in pregnant women. In addition, COVID-19 was associated with adverse fetal outcomes as preterm birth. The mechanisms underlying the increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 are not well-understood but may be related to the direct effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the placenta and the fetus, as well as the indirect effects of systemic inflammation and cytokine storm. During the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in particular has been shown to be associated with severe disease. The new coronavirus variants pre-delta, as well as the omicron variant, seem to be generally associated with a milder course of disease.

The toll of anti-vaccination in the public sphere is wide reaching and severely impactful. From continuing outbreaks of cases in communities previously thought to have eliminated the disease, the heightened demand of health care facilities, to the enormous economic burden that is brought on by these outbreaks. Although preventable via wide-spread use of vaccination, the increasing frequency of disease outbreaks is proving to be a major issue for healthcare systems worldwide. These problems are large in scope, and with the increase of skepticism towards healthcare and government officials via aggressive misinformation networks, along with the abandonment of the paternalistic model in patient- physician relationships are proving to be a major burden on medical systems worldwide. With the growing influence of social media in the public discourse, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide a host for multitude of vaccine critical outlooks and prove to be difficult to manage especially heading into the future. This paper aims to highlight three timeframes via a focus on the impact of anti-vaccination in their perspective disease: the role of anti-vaccination in its early start as panic towards the importation of foreign medical procedures as a preventative tool for smallpox outbreaks, the modern battle against MMR vaccine misinformation and its consequences, to the future of the problem approaching the era of postCovid life and the potential of future global pandemics along with potential biological warfare and its consequences.