Yale University
For reasons not yet clear, pregnant women infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 are more likely to experience preterm births, pre-eclampsia, and other neonatal problems than non-infected women.
A team of Yale scientists decided to investigate whether the virus could be affecting placental tissue of infected expectant mothers. Their analysis found that while evidence of the virus in the placenta is rare, the placenta in infected mothers tended to exhibit a much higher level of immune system activity than those of non-infected pregnant women, they report April 22 in the journal Med.
“The good news is the placenta is mounting a robust defense against an infection that is far distant, in lungs or nasal tissue,” said Shelli Farhadian, assistant professor of internal medicine (infectious diseases) and neurology at Yale and co-corresponding author. “On the other hand, the high level of immune system activity might be leading to other deleterious effects on th
Immune system, not COVID virus, may pose greatest risk to pregnant women
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February 15, 2021
by Julie Parry
In March of 2020, Shelli Farhadian, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) and neurology, began to see parallels in her pre-pandemic research on neurologic effects in patients with HIV infection and the possibility of neurologic effects on patients with SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19.
“There was some literature out there that suggested that coronaviruses could have an effect on the brain. So, knowing that that was a potential possibility, even before we had our first case at Yale New Haven Hospital, I worked with other people to set up a protocol where we could consent patients to collect tissue specimens and information to try to see if this was also going happen with SARS-CoV-2,” explained Farhadian.