Recent analyses indicate that pregnant women and newborns may face elevated risks of developing more severe cases of COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
E-Mail
BOSTON - Recent analyses indicate that pregnant women and newborns may face elevated risks of developing more severe cases of COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection. New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in
Cell reveals lower than expected transfer of protective SARS-CoV-2 antibodies via the placenta from mothers who are infected in the third trimester. The cause may be alterations to these antibodies after they re produced a process called glycosylation.
The results expand on the team s recent findings published in
JAMA Network Open that pregnant women with COVID-19 pass no SARS-CoV-2 virus, but also relatively low levels of antibodies against it, to newborns. For this latest study, the scientists compared maternal antibodies against the flu (influenza), whooping cough (pertussis), and SARS-CoV-2, and how these antibodies transferred across the placenta. Influenza- and pertussis-specific antibodies were actively trans