Brazil has warned women to get pregnant until the worst pandemic passes, saying the virus variant that is devastating the South American country appears to have more mothers than earlier versions of the coronavirus.
The recommendation comes because Brazil is still one of the biggest hubs of the pandemic, and more Brazilians are dying from the virus every day than anywhere else in the world.
Hospitals are under pressure and supplies of drugs needed for the intubation of seriously ill patients are becoming dangerous, and Brazil is turning to international partners for help with emergency supplies.
“If possible, postpone the pregnancy a bit until a better moment,” Health Ministry official Raphael Parente told a news conference on Friday.
He said the recommendation was due in part to the strain on the health system, but also to the more easily transmitted Brazilian variant known as P1.
“The clinical experience of specialists shows that this new variant acts more aggressively in pregnant women,” Parente said.
Previously, Covid-19 cases during pregnancy focused on the final trimester and birth, while in recent times, more serious cases have occurred in the second and sometimes first trimester.
The P1 variant, first discovered in the Amazon city of Manaus, quickly became popular in Brazil. It is considered a major factor behind a massive wave of infections that has brought the country’s death toll to more than 350,000 – the second highest in the world behind the US.
The outbreak in Brazil is increasingly affecting younger people, and hospital data show that more than half of all patients were in intensive care in March 40 or younger.
Jair Bolsonaro, the president, opposed exclusions and held large events in which he often did not wear a mask. He recently accepted vaccines as a possible solution, but vaccination vaccination has been plagued by delays and missed targets to get people vaccinated.
According to local media, there were strikes in several cities this week due to a shortage of vaccine.
The increase in Covid-19 cases also did not provide hospitals with sedatives needed for patients in need of mechanical ventilation.
An emergency shipment of the drugs arrived late on Thursday from Brazil, while donations from Spain are expected to arrive next week.
Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have both sounded alarms due to shortages, while São Paulo’s health secretary said this week that the city’s ability to care for seriously ill coronavirus patients is on the verge of collapse.