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Does maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection affect the immunologic status of newborns?

Published online: May 10, 2020

The immaturity of immunologic function in newborns raise serious questions as to what impact the inflammatory reaction caused by maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection has on the immunologic function of the fetus.

In an article recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), Drs. Liu and Zhao’s team analyzed the immunologic status of newborns born to mothers with COVID-19 in the third trimester. This study showed that although SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious, under strict protective measures, 51 newborns born to SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers in the third trimester were not infected with SARS-CoV-2. Mother's infection had no significant effect on the cellular and humoral immunologic status of the newborn, and lymphocyte differentiation was not seriously unbalanced.

These findings demonstrate that the 3rd trimester pregnant women with mild to moderate COVID-19 give birth to healthy babies. The results from this research may further help us understand the immune function of newborns delivered by mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 and improve treatment and prevention strategies.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) is an official scientific journal of the AAAAI, and is the most-cited journal in the field of allergy and clinical immunology.