In 20% of women who had coronavirus during pregnancy, children lag behind in development. According to Alexander Gorelov, deputy director for scientific work of the central research institute of epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, COVID-19 will cause a change in the placenta. It disrupts blood circulation, and the fetus receives less oxygen. Because of this, in 20% of cases, a slowdown in the development of children, both mental and physical, is “absolutely clearly traced”.
Rospotrebnadzor did not report on the methodology for conducting the study, nor did they specify other details. However, the time that has passed since the beginning of the pandemic already makes it possible to identify such problems, notes Pavel Volchkov, a virologist and head of the MIPT Laboratory of Genomic Engineering: “The first conclusions can really be drawn, since the pandemic has lasted more than two years. In the active phase in Russia, it began in the spring of 2020.
As a matter of fact, at that time there were quite large numbers of cases, including pregnant women. In principle, viruses such as COVID-19 cause damage to a number of organs, tissues, and systems. First of all, in addition to the lung endothelium, the vascular endothelium is the placenta, the hub of communication between the fetus and the mother. There, of course, there are a huge number of vessels through which it exchanges oxygen, nutrients, CO2 and metabolic products in the opposite direction.
Therefore, a violation of this message, namely the level of blood supply, will obviously lead to dysfunction in the development of the fetus, slowing down development. An excessive amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines also has an extremely negative effect on the formation, in particular, of the central nervous system of the fetus, especially in the second trimester of pregnancy.”
Coronavirus really easily penetrates the body and can cause such disorders, agrees candidate of biological sciences, geneticist Kirill Volkov: “In principle, this seems to be true. At least the previous strains of COVID-19, not “omicron”, were very fond of destroying the inner lining of blood vessels, which led to poor functioning of blood vessels and microthrombosis, their clogging in different parts of the body. It is quite natural that the defeat of the placenta by the coronavirus will cause a deterioration in the oxygen supply to the fetus.
This can lead to a range of defects, including delayed development. It is necessary, of course, to focus on the sample, that is, on how seriously and with what strains the mothers were affected. Very good statistics should be collected there, there should be women of different ages, with different stages of pregnancy. It is necessary to clearly assess what was the damage to the body of the mother and fetus, and then monitor what happens to children after birth.
According to Alexander Gorelov from Rospotrebnadzor, if children born with developmental disabilities due to COVID-19 in their mother undergo rehabilitation on time, the consequences can be eliminated.