Little boys whose mother was infected with Covid-19 during pregnancy are more at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders.
- A study found that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was linked to a higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in male babies.
- On the other hand, this increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders is not observed in female babies.
- Larger studies and longer follow-up are needed to confirm and understand this risk.
Several diseases contracted during pregnancy increase the risk for children to have neurodevelopmental disorders while growing up. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital wanted to determine if this link also held true with Covid-19. The answer is yes, but only in boys.
Covid-19: boys more at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders
The scientists came to this conclusion, presented in JAMA Network Open after examining the records of 18,355 births that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. 883 babies (4.8%) were born to women infected with the coronavirus while pregnant. Among them, 3% were diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder during their first 12 months of life. The rate was only 1.8% in toddlers not exposed to SARS‐CoV‐2.
“After taking into account race, age, ethnicity, insurance status, type of hospital and premature status, the team found that male babies born to people who had SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy, were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disease at 12 months than those born to uninfected women.”specifies the press release from American establishments. The effect was also more modest when the little boys were 18 months old: infection with Covid-19 during pregnancy was linked to a 42% higher probability of a neurodevelopmental diagnosis at this age.
Covid-19 and neurodevelopmental disorder: further research needed
While boys are at risk, girls don’t seem to be. The work has shown no link between contamination with Covid-19 during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in female babies.
“The neurodevelopmental risk associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was disproportionately high in male infants, consistent with the known increased vulnerability of males to adverse prenatal exposures”says co-lead author Andrea Edlow, associate professor of obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Larger studies and longer follow-up will be needed to reliably confirm or refute the observed risk, adds co-lead author Roy Perlis, professor of psychiatry at the same institution.
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