Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash Medical Centre, Monash University, Level 3, 27-31 Wright St, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
BMC Pediatr. 2023 Jan 30;23(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s12887-023-03858-w.
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented acute global health challenges. However, it also presents a set of unquantified and poorly understood risks in the medium to long term, specifically, risks to children whose mothers were infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during pregnancy. Infections during pregnancy can increase the risk of atypical neurodevelopment in the offspring, but the long-term neurodevelopmental impact of in utero COVID-19 exposure is unknown. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate children exposed in utero to SARS-CoV2 to define this risk.
We have designed a prospective, case-controlled study to investigate the long-term impacts of SARS-CoV2 exposure on children exposed in utero. Women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy will be recruited from Monash Health, the Royal Women's Hospital and Western Health (Melbourne, Australia) and Londrina Municipal Maternity Hospital Lucilla Ballalai and PUCPR Medical Clinical (Londrina, Brazil). A control group in a 2:1 ratio (2 non-exposed: 1 exposed mother infant dyad) comprising women who gave birth in the same month of delivery, are of similar age but did not contract SARS-CoV-2 during their pregnancy will also be recruited. We aim to recruit 170 exposed and 340 non-exposed mother-infant dyads. Clinical and socio-demographic data will be collected directly from the mother and medical records. Biospecimens and clinical and epidemiological data will be collected from the mothers and offspring at multiple time points from birth through to 15 years of age using standardised sample collection, and neurological and behavioural measures.
The mapped neurodevelopmental trajectories and comparisons between SARS-CoV-2 exposed and control children will indicate the potential for an increase in atypical neurodevelopment. This has significant implications for strategic planning in the mental health and paediatrics sectors and long-term monitoring of children globally.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行给全球带来了前所未有的急性健康挑战。然而，从中长期来看，它也带来了一系列尚未量化且了解甚少的风险，特别是对于那些母亲在怀孕期间感染严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的儿童。怀孕期间的感染会增加后代出现非典型神经发育的风险，但子宫内 COVID-19 暴露对长期神经发育的影响尚不清楚。需要前瞻性、纵向研究来评估子宫内暴露于 SARS-CoV2 的儿童，以确定这种风险。
我们设计了一项前瞻性病例对照研究，以调查 SARS-CoV2 暴露对子宫内暴露儿童的长期影响。将从莫纳什健康、皇家妇女医院和西部健康（澳大利亚墨尔本）以及隆德里纳市立妇产医院 Lucilla Ballalai 和 PUCPR 医疗临床（巴西隆德里纳）招募在怀孕期间感染 SARS-CoV-2 的女性。将按照 2:1 的比例招募对照组（2 名未暴露：1 名暴露母婴对子），对照组由同月分娩的女性组成，年龄相似，但在怀孕期间未感染 SARS-CoV-2。我们计划招募 170 名暴露母婴对子和 340 名未暴露母婴对子。将直接从母亲和病历中收集临床和社会人口统计学数据。将从母亲和后代收集生物样本以及临床和流行病学数据，从出生到 15 岁的多个时间点使用标准化样本收集，以及进行神经和行为测量。
映射的神经发育轨迹和 SARS-CoV-2 暴露与对照儿童之间的比较将表明非典型神经发育增加的可能性。这对心理健康和儿科领域的战略规划以及全球儿童的长期监测具有重要意义。
