Infection with COVID-19 during pregnancy may cause fetal inflammation even without placental infection

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can cause fetal inflammation even in the absence of placental infection, researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Detroit Division of Perinatal Research at the National Institutes of Health have found

Pregnant women are at higher risk for severe illness if they contract COVID-19

The report, Maternal-Fetal Immune Response in Pregnant Women Infected with SARS-CoV-2, published today in the journal Nature Communications , reports that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy may lead to an inflammatory immune response in the fetus, even if the virus does not infect the placenta

The study was conducted by Dr.

"We found that in virus-infected pregnant women, SARS-CoV-2 triggers a fetal immune response even when the newborn has no placental infection or symptoms

The researchers evaluated 23 pregnant women

The research team recounts the following observations:

• Pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 had a reduction in an immune cell type called T cells, which help drive antiviral responses

  
  

• Whether symptomatic or not, infected mothers develop antibodies against the virus, some of which are found in cord blood

  
  

• Regardless of symptoms, infected mothers had higher levels of markers of immune activity, known as cytokines, in their blood

  
  

• Babies born to infected mothers, even if the mothers had no symptoms, had an inflammatory response that was reflected in higher levels of interleukin-8

  
  

• Although the virus was absent in the placenta, the placenta of the infected mother changed the ratio of immune cell types

  
  

"This study provides insights into the maternal-fetal immune response triggered by SARSCoV-2 and highlights the rarity of placental infection," said Dr.

These latest findings will help researchers better understand COVID-19 during pregnancy

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