Study reveals neurodevelopmental differences in babies exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero
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Infants born to mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy had differences in behavior and movement compared with infants who were unexposed to SARS-CoV-2, preliminary data presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry showed.
“Not all babies born to mothers infected with COVID show neurodevelopmental differences, but our data show that their risk is increased in comparison to those not exposed to COVID in the womb,” Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, PhD, lead investigator of the study affiliated with the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Spain, said in a press release.
From 2017 to 2021, Ayesa-Arriola and colleagues enrolled pregnant women throughout their pregnancy and after delivery. The researchers administered the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) to 21 infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero and 21 unexposed infants aged 6 weeks to evaluate their neurological, social and behavioral function.
Adjusted analyses showed that infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prenatally had significantly lower scores for the NBAS social interactive dimension.
“Effectively, they react slightly differently to being held or cuddled,” first study author Águeda Castro Quintas, a PhD researcher at University of Barcelona, said in a press release.
Exposed infants also seemed to have more trouble moving their head and shoulders, according to the release.
“This is an ongoing project, and we are at an early stage,” Castro Quintas noted in the release. “We found that babies whose mothers had been exposed to COVID did show neurological effects at 6 weeks, but we don’t know if these effects will result in any longer-term issues. Longer term observation may help us understand this.”
References:
- Babies exposed to COVID in the womb show neurodevelopmental changes. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/954662. Published June 5, 2022. Accessed June 8, 2022.
- Castro Quintas Á, et al. The impact of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in early stages of newborn neurodevelopment: Preliminary results in a multicenter Spanish study. Presented at: European Congress of Psychiatry; June 4-7, 2022 (virtual meeting).
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In a preliminary study presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry, a Spanish group led by Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, PhD, showed that babies born to mothers infected with COVID compared with matched controls showed significant neurodevelopmental changes. The researchers studied 21 babies born to infected mothers, compared with 21 control babies. At 6 weeks, the babies showed “greater difficulty in controlling head and shoulder movements,” among many other findings.
The group is continuing to monitor these neurodevelopmental changes, and they are expanding their studies to 100 COVID-exposed babies with 100 matched controls. They realize that long-term changes are going to be the most convincing to observers. They are also monitoring language development through 42 months of age.
Although these are very preliminary results, they are consistent with the findings of many studies showing adverse effects of COVID during pregnancy. Given the documented safety of COVID vaccinations during pregnancy, data such as these can help to encourage our patients planning for pregnancy or who have conceived and are not immunized to receive their COVID vaccines.
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Castro Quintas Á, et al. The impact of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in early stages of newborn neurodevelopment: Preliminary results in a multicenter Spanish study. Presented at: European Congress of Psychiatry; June 4-7, 2022 (virtual meeting).
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