Saturday, April 8, 2023 | 02:41 WIB
Surya Lesmana / LES
Chicago, Beritasatu.com – Researchers at the University of Miami reported on Thursday (6/4/2023) what they believe to be the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 crossed the mother’s placenta and caused brain damage in the newborn. content.
Doctors had previously suspected this might be happening, but to date, there was no direct evidence of the presence of Covid-19 in the mother’s placenta or the baby’s brain, the team told reporters at a news briefing.
The babies were born to young mothers who tested positive for the virus during the second trimester at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic’s Delta variant wave in 2020, before a vaccine became available. The case study is published in the journal Pediatrics.
Several viruses are known to be able to cross the placenta and cause fetal brain damage, including Cytomegalovirus, Rubella, HIV and Zika. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in adult brain tissue, and some experts suspect it may also damage fetal brain tissue.
“This is the first time we have been able to demonstrate virus in fetal organs with a transplacental tract,” Dr Michael Paidas, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami, told the briefing.
“That’s why we think it’s so important.”
Newborn babies have seizures from the first day they are born. However, unlike Zika, these babies were not born with microcephaly, a condition characterized by small heads. Instead, microcephaly develops over time because their brain stops growing at its normal rate, the team said.
Both babies had severe developmental delays. One of the children died at 13 months of age, and the other was hospitalized, the team said.
None of the babies tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but they had high levels of Covid antibodies in their blood, said Dr. Merline Benny, a neonatologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami, at the briefing.
He said it showed that the virus was passing from the mother, through the placenta and to the baby.
The team found evidence of the presence of the virus in the placentas of both mothers. An autopsy on the brain of the child who died revealed the Covid virus in the brain, indicating a direct infection that caused the injury, said Benny.
As for the mothers, although both tested positive for the virus, one woman only had mild symptoms and delivered a full-term baby while the other was so sick that doctors had to deliver her baby at 32 weeks’ gestation.
Shahnaz Duara, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of Miami, said he believed cases were rare, but urged women who had been infected during their pregnancy to tell their child’s pediatrician to check for developmental delays.
“We know that things can be very subtle until the age of seven or eight, until the kids go to school,” he said.
The team also urges women who are considering pregnancy to get a Covid vaccination, and say pregnant women should consider getting vaccinated.
It is not yet clear whether the injuries caused during pregnancy are unique to the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 or can occur with Omicron-related variants.
#Covid-19#Covid-19 Damages Baby Brains# Babies in the Womb# Cases of Covid-19 in Babies
