Is a pregnant woman infected with Covid… a risk to her health or to the brain of her fetus?

A recent American study revealed that pregnant women being infected with the Covid-19 virus may be linked to an increased risk of their children developing neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, based on an analysis of more than 18,000 births during the first year of the pandemic.

According to the study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, children whose mothers were exposed to the virus during pregnancy were approximately 30% more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders by the age of three, compared to children of uninfected mothers.

The risks were higher in males and when infection occurred during the third trimester of pregnancy, suggesting that the timing of infection may play a crucial role in influencing brain development. Researchers believe that the cause is not directly due to the virus, but rather to the mother’s immune response, as inflammation can affect the growth and communication of nerve cells.

Despite these results, co-researcher Dr. Andrea Edlow of Mass General Brigham Hospital stressed that the overall risk remains low, explaining that “a pregnant woman getting Covid does not necessarily mean that her child will develop autism.”

Experts stressed that these results reinforce the importance of vaccination during pregnancy, especially since the study was conducted in a period before vaccines were widely available. On the other hand, international recommendations currently differ, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stopped recommending the vaccine for healthy pregnant women, while the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the British Health Service (NHS) still recommend it to maintain the safety of the mother and fetus.