Male babies born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy were more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder in the first 12 months after delivery, according to a study. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that Covid positivity was associated with nearly two-fold higher odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at 12 months of age among male children.
At 18 months, the effects were more modest in males, with maternal SARS-CoV-2 positivity linked to a 42 percent higher odds of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at this age. However, the risk was not seen in girls, said researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US.
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“The neurodevelopmental risk associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in male infants, consistent with the known increased vulnerability of males in the face of prenatal adverse exposures,” said Andrea Edlow, Associate Professor and a Maternal-Foetal Medicine specialist at MGH.
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Previous studies have found associations between other infections during pregnancy and increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as autism spectrum disorder, but it was unclear if such a link exists with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.
For the study, the team examined electronic health records for 18,355 live births during the Covid pandemic, including 883 individuals with SARS-CoV-2 positivity during pregnancy.
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Of the 883 SARS-CoV-2-exposed children, 26 received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis during the first 12 months of life. Among the unexposed children, 317 received such a diagnosis.
Too few of the mothers were vaccinated to determine whether vaccination changed risk, said the researchers stressing the need for further studies to explain the risk.
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