Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection exposure may be associated with neurodevelopment of the infants as per a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
There have been 200 million infants’ births since the COVID-19 pandemic onset globally. The study thereby analyzed the link between maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection (during pregnancy) and an infant’s neurobehavioral development at the age of 6 months in New York City.
‘Infants birth but not maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection exposure, may be associated with neurodevelopmental aspects of the infants.
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It was found that exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with differences in neurobehavioral development. But birth during the pandemic was associated with differences in neurodevelopment at age 6 months, as the infants had lower scores on gross motor, fine motor, and personal-social subdomains.
The study thereby suggest that birth during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, is associated with differences in neurodevelopment at age 6 months.
This urges the need for long-term monitoring of children born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Medindia
