Researchers study birth defects after COVID-19 infection and vaccination

In a recent study published in Nature Communicationsresearchers compared significant birth defects observed after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccination.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during pregnancy is associated with severe disease COVID-19 symptoms and unfavorable perinatal and maternal outcomes. However, COVID-19 vaccination coverage remains low in many settings for pregnant women. Concerns about vaccine safety are one of the main obstacles to her COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. There are numerous studies showing the safety of getting her COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy with respect to perinatal events such as early pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage and stillbirth. However, there is insufficient evidence linking COVID-19 infection or vaccination during early pregnancy with the risk of birth defects.

About research

In the current study, researchers estimated the relationship between COVID-19 infection and vaccination separately from 6 weeks before conception to 19 weeks and 6 days of gestation.

The team used the latest COVID-19 in Pregnancy in Scotland (COPS) cohort, which contains data on all pregnancies completed and ongoing in Scotland after 1 January 2015. The team extracted data related to the approximate date of conception, gestational age at the end of pregnancy, and pregnancy outcome for each pregnancy. National data on COVID-19 immunizations and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections were integrated into he COPS study cohort to identify relevant exposures.

In this study, primary exposure consisted of receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccination from 6 weeks before conception until gestational age 19+6 weeks or until the end of gestation, whichever came first. An infant was classified as exposed to her COVID-19 vaccination if the mother received any dose and any number of doses of any type of vaccine available in Scotland during the exposure period.

result

For the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination analysis, the research team found 53,914 infants who had an adequate follow-up period during study vaccine exposure. Of these 53,914 infants, nearly 8,785 were born to a woman who received her COVID-19 vaccine during the period from her 6 weeks prior to conception to 19+6 weeks of gestation. Newborns of vaccinated mothers are more likely to be born to mothers in the most disadvantaged areas who are nonsmokers and have previous health problems compared with babies of unvaccinated mothers. Of the 6,731 infants born to vaccinated mothers, 153 were found to have the abnormality. No genetic basis for the abnormality was identified in 120 infants. The person showed a non-genetic abnormality.

Studies that considered only model matching variables or studies that considered all clinical and sociodemographic covariates showed no indication of an association between COVID-19 vaccination and abnormalities. Similarly, the team found no indication of an association between vaccination and non-genetic abnormalities when considering concordant variables and sociodemographic and clinical confounders.

Results were similar in analyzes that included neonates from pregnancies lasting any duration. was limited to vaccinated infants, we found no evidence of a correlation between COVID-19 vaccination and morbidity rates. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the relationship between vaccination and incidence of anomalies was 0.76 and that for non-genetic anomalies was 0.66. Most pregnant mothers who were immunized throughout the exposure period received the mRNA vaccine. 18.2% received the ChAdOx1-s/nCoV-19 vaccine and 0.2% received one or more of her vaccines.

Compared with newborns of uninfected mothers, infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection were more likely to be born to women in the most disadvantaged areas and urban areas. Of the 1574 exposed infants, 32 had an abnormality and 26 had a non-genetic abnormality. Of her 4,722 infants who had not been exposed to a validated SARS-CoV-2 infection, almost 71 had non-genetic abnormalities and 85 had some abnormality. Furthermore, there were no indications of an association between COVID-19 and abnormalities, regardless of whether matching variables or clinical and sociodemographic confounders were included in the analysis. Also, no association was found between COVID-19 infection and non-genetic abnormalities.

Overall, the results of this study showed no association between COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection and the likelihood of serious birth defects. The researchers believe that this study will contribute to increasing information about the safety of her COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and provide definitive solace in the safety of vaccination immediately before or in the first trimester of pregnancy. increase.