New research led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), in the United States, has found that males but not females born to mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy were more likely to receive a neurodevelopmental diagnosis in the first 12 months after childbirth, as published by its authors in the magazine ‘JAMA Network Open’.
neurodevelopmental disorders
Previous studies have found associations between other infections during pregnancy and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as autism spectrum disorder, but it is not clear whether such an association exists with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. .
To investigate, the scientists examined the electronic health records of 18,355 live births during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 883 (4.8%) of individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy.
Of the 883 children exposed to SARS-CoV-2, 26 (3.0%) received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis during the first 12 months of life. Among the unexposed children, 317 (1.8%) received such a diagnosis.
Almost twice as likely
After accounting for race, ethnicity, insurance status, type of hospital (academic vs. community facility), maternal age, and preterm status, maternal positivity to SARS-CoV-2 was associated with nearly two times the odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at 12 months of age among boys. However, maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was not associated with increased risk in girls.
At 18 months, the effects were more modest in boys, with maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity associated with a 42% higher odds of neurodevelopmental diagnosis at that age. Too few of the mothers were vaccinated to determine if vaccination modified risk.
“The neurodevelopmental risk associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in male infants, consistent with the higher known vulnerability of males to adverse prenatal exposures,” says co-senior author Andrea Edlow, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Biology Reproductive and Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at MGH.
Co-lead author Roy Perlisassociate chief for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and director of the MGH Center for Quantitative Health, notes that larger studies and longer follow-up will be needed to reliably estimate or refute the observed risk.
“We hope to continue to expand this cohort, and follow up over time, to provide better answers on any longer-term effects,” he says.