After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous investigations have been carried out to determine how infection by SARS-CoV-2 in a pregnant woman could affect her future child, since it had previously been found that other infections during pregnancy increase the risk of the baby developing neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), a link that was not known to exist in the case of coronavirus infection.
Now, a new study has found that boys – but not girls – born to women who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection while pregnant were more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental problems in the first 12 months. of life. The work has been led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), who have published their findings in JAMA Network Open.
Men more vulnerable to adverse prenatal exposures
The researchers analyzed the electronic health records of 18,355 live births during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 883 (4.8%) whose mothers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during gestation. Of the 883 infants who had been exposed to the coronavirus while developing in the womb, 26 (3.0%) were diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder during the first 12 months of life, compared to 1.8% of the infants. children who also received the diagnosis without having been exposed to the virus.
“The neurodevelopmental risk associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in male infants”
Factors that could influence the appearance of these alterations were taken into account, such as the baby’s race, their ethnic origin, the type of health center where they had come into the world, the mother’s age and whether they were premature babies, and the positivity of pregnant to SARS-CoV-2 was associated with nearly two times the odds of having a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at 12 months of age among male children. In girls, however, maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was not associated with increased risk of being diagnosed with these problems.
At 18 months of age, the effects were milder in boys, and maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was associated with a 42% higher odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis. The potential effect of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 could not be determined, since very few mothers had been vaccinated.
“The neurodevelopmental risk associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in infant boys, consistent with the higher known vulnerability of males to adverse prenatal exposures,” highlighted Dr. Andrea Edlow, co-senior author and associate professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, and a specialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine at MGH.
Dr. Roy Perlis, associate chief of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and director of the Center for Quantitative Health at MGH and co-senior author, has stated that larger studies and longer follow-up are needed to reliably confirm or refute the risk. that they have found “We hope to continue to expand this cohort and follow them over time, to provide better answers about any long-term effects,” he concludes.
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