Babies of mothers infected with COVID-19 face increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders: JAMA

USA: Andrea G. Edlow and colleagues discovered early evidence that maternal SARS-CoV-2 exposure may be related to neurodevelopmental sequelae in certain kids. The findings of this study were published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

According to epidemiological research, maternal immune activity during pregnancy may be linked to neurodevelopmental impacts in children. Following that, this study was carried out to determine if in utero exposure to SARS-CoV-2 is related to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental problems in the first 12 months after delivery.

The living children of all moms who gave birth between March and September 2020 at any of six Massachusetts hospitals across two health systems were evaluated in this retrospective cohort research. From October through December 2021, statistical analysis was carried out. This study took into account maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection verified by a polymerase chain reaction test during pregnancy.

Neurodevelopmental disorders were ascertained from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) diagnostic codes over the first 12 months of life; sociodemographic and clinical features of mothers and offspring derived from the electronic health record were used as the primary outcome.

The key findings of this study were as follows:

1. There were 7772 live births in the cohort, with a mean maternal age of 32.9 years; kids were 9.9% Asian (772), 8.4% Black (656), and 69.0% White (5363); 15.1% (1134) were Hispanic.

2. Preterm birth was more common in exposed mothers: 14.4% (32) versus 8.7% (654).

3. In uncorrected models as well as those adjusted for race, ethnicity, maternal age, insurance status, offspring sex, and preterm status, maternal SARS-CoV-2 positive during pregnancy was linked with a higher prevalence of neurodevelopmental diagnoses.

4. Third-trimester infection was linked with more severe consequences.

In conclusion, the PI said, "These early data imply that kids exposed to SARS-CoV-2 have a higher risk of unfavorable neurodevelopmental outcomes at one year, emphasizing the importance of large, representative cohort studies. More broadly, our research suggests the viability of using EHR data in a retrospective cohort study to discover risk signals before large-scale prospective follow-up studies are available."

Reference:

Edlow, A. G., Castro, V. M., Shook, L. L., Kaimal, A. J., & Perlis, R. H. (2022). Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 1 Year in Infants of Mothers Who Tested Positive for SARS-CoV-2 During Pregnancy. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 5, Issue 6, p. e2215787). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.15787