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Washington, DC – Research shows that certain segments of the population who contract SARS-CoV-2, the strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, tend to get sicker and are at higher risk of worse outcomes, and that includes pregnant women and babies under two months.
In a new study to be presented today at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), The Pregnancy Meeting ™, researchers will reveal findings suggesting that women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy may produce antibodies, but that the transfer of these antibodies to their babies is less than expected.
Antibodies are produced by the body’s immune system to help fight infection. Specifically, the study looked at immunoglobulin G (IgG) and neutralizing activity, a measure of the strength of the antibody response, in the maternal immune system.
IgG antibodies make up about 75 to 80 percent of all antibodies in the body and can cross the placenta to the fetus. Neutralizing antibodies block infection and make viruses less active.
“A recent study looked at the maternal antibody response to infection, but our study is the first to look at the maternal immune response and neutralizing antibodies,” said one of the study’s lead authors, Naima Joseph, MD, MPH, clinical researcher. in maternal-fetal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of the SMFM COVID-19 Task Force. “We also looked at the transfer of these antibodies through the placenta to the fetus.”
The study analyzed maternal and umbilical cord blood samples from 32 women who tested positive for COVID-19 during pregnancy. Of the maternal samples collected, 100 percent contained IgG and 94 percent contained neutralizing antibodies. Of the cord blood samples, 91 percent contained IgG and 25 percent contained neutralizing antibodies.
“What’s interesting about this study is that even if a woman was asymptomatic, she still developed high levels of COVID-19 IgG and neutralizing antibodies,” said Joseph.
“One of the main ways that babies are protected from infection is from the antibodies they receive in utero, so regardless of whether a woman was asymptomatic or not, we would have expected to see a higher percentage of transferred antibodies. from mother to baby, especially neutralizing antibodies, “said another of the study’s lead authors, Martina L. Badell, MD, maternal-fetal subspecialist and associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine. “The next step is to understand why the transfer of antibodies is different in COVID-19 infection from other infections and if the transfer of these antibodies increases when we vaccinate a pregnant woman.”
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About SMFM
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) is a non-profit membership organization based in Washington, DC. With more than 5,000 physicians, scientists, and women’s health professionals worldwide, the Society supports the clinical practice of maternal-fetal medicine by providing education, promoting research, and engaging in advocacy to optimize women’s health high-risk pregnant women and their babies. SMFM hosts an annual scientific meeting where new ideas and research related to high-risk pregnancies are shared and discussed. For more information, visit SMFM.org and connect with the organization on Facebook and Twitter. For the latest news and updates from the 2021 Annual Meeting, follow the hashtag # smfm21.
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