SARS-CoV-2, short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, is a novel coronavirus first recognized in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. This extremely contagious virus is accountable for the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has actually affected millions of lives worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Coronaviridae family and the Betacoronavirus genus.
SARS-CoV-2, brief for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, is an unique coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. This extremely contagious infection is accountable for the international COVID-19 pandemic, which has actually affected millions of lives worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA infection coming from the Coronaviridae household and the Betacoronavirus genus.
Additional examination through larger research studies and extended monitoring is essential to assess this possible danger.
According to a brand-new study released in JAMA Network Open, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, a member of Mass General Brigham, found that male newborns (however not females) born to mothers contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy are most likely to receive a neurodevelopmental medical diagnosis within the very first year of birth.
Previous research has actually developed connections in between other infections during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in kids, such as autism spectrum disorder, but it remains uncertain whether the exact same is true for SARS-CoV-2. To shed light on this problem, the scientists analyzed electronic health records of 18,355 live births that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 883 (4.8%) of these births being to mothers who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy.
Of the 883 SARS‐CoV‐2– unveiled children, 26 (3.0%) got a neurodevelopmental medical diagnosis during the first 12 months of life. Among the SARS‐CoV‐2– unexposed offspring, 317 (1.8%) received such a medical diagnosis.
After representing race, ethnic culture, insurance coverage status, healthcare facility type (academic center vs. community), maternal age, and preterm status, maternal SARS‐CoV‐2 positivity was related to an almost two-fold higher odds of a neurodevelopmental medical diagnosis at 12 months of age among male children. Maternal SARS‐CoV‐2 positivity was not connected with a higher threat in female children.
At 18 months, the effects were more modest in males, with maternal SARS‐CoV‐2 positivity linked to a 42% higher odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at this age. Too few of the mothers were vaccinated to figure out whether vaccination changed danger.
” The neurodevelopmental threat connected with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in male infants, constant with the understood increased vulnerability of males in the face of prenatal unfavorable exposures,” states co– lead author Andrea Edlow, MD MSc, an associate teacher of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at MGH.
Co– lead author Roy Perlis, MD MSc, associate chief of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and director of the Center for Quantitative Health at MGH, notes that bigger studies and longer follow-ups will be required to dependably refute the danger or estimate observed. “We hope to continue to broaden this cohort, and to follow them gradually, to provide better answers about any longer-term effects,” he says.
Reference: “Sex-Specific Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Among Offspring of Mothers With SARS-CoV-2 Infection During Pregnancy” by Andrea G. Edlow, MD, MSc, Victor M. Castro, MS, Lydia L. Shook, MD, Sebastien Haneuse, Ph.D., Anjali J. Kaimal, MD, MAS and Roy H. Perlis, MD, MSc, 23 March 2023, JAMA Network Open.DOI: 10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2023.4415.
This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Simons Foundation.