Male infants born to mothers who contracted Covid-19 during pregnancy are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders than male infants whose mothers were not infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy, according to a new study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital. Male infants are more likely to receive a neurodevelopmental diagnosis in the first 12 months after birth, if their mother was infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy, the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open, said.
Associations have been found between other infections during pregnancy and increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as autism spectrum disorder. However, previous studies had not explored if such an association exists between neurodevelopmental disorders and SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.
As part of the new study, scientists examined electronic health records for 18,355 live births during the Covid-19 pandemic. Of these, 883 children were born to individuals with SARS-CoV-2 positivity during pregnancy.
As many as 26 children received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis during the first 12 months of life, the study said. These accounted for three per cent of the SARS-CoV-2-exposed children.
Of the SARS-CoV-2-unexposed offspring, 317 received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis during the first 12 months of life. These accounted for 1.8 per cent of the SARS-CoV-2-unexposed children.
The authors found that maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was associated with a nearly two-fold higher odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at 12 months of age among male children. According to the study, maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was not linked with a higher risk in female children.
At 18 months, maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity was linked to a 42 per cent higher odds of neurodevelopmental diagnosis.
Not many mothers were vaccinated to determine whether vaccination changed risk.
The authors concluded that in the cohort study of offspring with SARS-CoV-2 exposure in the uterus, such exposure was associated with greater magnitude of risk for neurodevelopmental diagnoses among male offspring at 12 months of age.
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