Center for Global Development: Time to Deliver: New Ebola Findings Highlight the Need to Improve Evidence and Interventions for Pregnant Women
Carleigh Krubiner, global health policy fellow at CGD and project director and co-principal investigator for the Pregnancy Research Ethics for Vaccines, Epidemics, and New Technologies (PREVENT) Project, discusses a recent report in The Lancet Infectious Diseases describing a female Ebola survivor who likely transmitted the virus to her family members one year post-recovery, noting this report raises questions about “how pregnancy may impact the presentation of Ebola virus disease (EVD), not just for women in the near term but across multiple pregnancies, and potentially as the source of new outbreaks.” Krubiner writes, “As the pace of research and development accelerates and investments are being made to develop vaccines and therapies for a range of dangerous pathogens — many of which have severe presentations in pregnancy — there is an opportunity, now, to forge a path for more inclusive preparedness, R&D, and response that will ensure pregnant women and their offspring fairly benefit from investments and scientific advancements in the fight against emerging infectious diseases” (7/31).