A new study published in the journal Pediatrics this week revealed the first confirmed cases of babies born with brain damage due to the COVID-19 virus crossing into their mothers’ placenta. The University of Miami study reported that both babies were born to young mothers who had tested positive for the virus in their second trimester during the peak spread of the Delta variant in 2021 before vaccines were available. Both babies suffered seizures on the day they were born and later experienced significant developmental delays. Unfortunately, one child died at 13 months, while the other was placed in hospice care.
Although the babies did not test positive for the virus themselves, they had high levels of COVID antibodies in their blood, indicating that the virus likely transferred from the mother to the placenta and then to the baby. Dr. Merline Benny, a neonatologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the university, stated that the research team located evidence of the virus in both mothers’ placentas. An autopsy showed traces of COVID-19 in the baby’s brain, suggesting direct infection caused the injuries.
Both mothers tested positive for the virus, with one only experiencing mild symptoms and carrying the baby to full-term, while the other mother was so severely sick that doctors had to deliver her baby at 32 weeks.
According to researchers, both babies suffered seizures on their birth day and experienced severe developmental disabilities. This study is the first direct evidence of the virus in a mother’s placenta or an infant’s brain, although doctors had suggested that this was possible. As NBC reports, other viruses such as Cytomegalovirus, Rubella, HIV, and Zika have been known to cause brain damage to a fetus.
Dr. Michael Paidas, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami, stated that this is the first time the virus has been demonstrated in a fetal organ with the transplacental passage, making it a significant finding.
