ArticlePloS one2022
Infants prenatally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 show the absence of fidgety movements and are at higher risk for neurological disorders: A comparative study.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association of in utero SARS-CoV-2 exposure on neurodevelopmental outcomes at 12 and 22 months.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Neurological and neurodevelopmental effects of Covid and MIS-C on children.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Infants' General Movements Were Not Affected by Exposure to Maternal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infections.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Observational
- Association between maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection & clinical outcomes in infants: A multicentric retrospective cohort study in India.The Indian journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: The Associations of Prenatal Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Vaccination With Child Neurodevelopment.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Review
- Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children Born to Mothers Infected with SARS-CoV-2 During Pregnancy: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Cord blood IgA/M reveals in utero response to SARS-CoV-2 with fluctuations in relation to circulating variants.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The pregnancy outcomes of women with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first trimester ---a longitudinal cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- STORCH Brazil: multicenter cohort study protocol to investigate neurodevelopmental paths and functioning in infants exposed to STORCH in Brazil.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- COVID-19 and Its Potential Impact on Children Born to Mothers Infected During Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Well controlled maternal inflammatory bowel disease does not increase the risk of abnormal neurocognitive outcome screening in offspring.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- The long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of toddlers with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the neonatal period: a prospective observational study.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Observational
- Article
- Neonatal outcomes of maternal prenatal coronavirus infection.Pediatric research · 2024Review
- The Emotional Experience of Mexican Women with SARS-CoV-2 during Pregnancy-A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Exploring the Link between Maternal Hematological Disorders during Pregnancy and Neurological Development in Newborns: Mixed Cohort Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Maternal immune activation and role of placenta in the prenatal programming of neurodevelopmental disorders.Neuronal signaling · 2023Review
- Impact of perinatal COVID on fetal and neonatal brain and neurodevelopmental outcomes.Seminars in fetal & neonatal medicine · 2023Review
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mother to fetus or neonate: What to know and what to do?Seminars in fetal & neonatal medicine · 2023Review
- Neuromotor repertoires in infants exposed to maternal COVID-19 during pregnancy: a cohort study.BMJ open · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Congenital viral infections are believed to damage the developing neonatal brain. However, whether neonates exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) show manifestations of such damage remains unclear. For neurodevelopment evaluation, general movement assessments have been shown to be effective in identifying early indicators of neurological dysfunction, including the absence of fidgety movements. This study compared the early motor repertoire by general movement assessment at three to five months of age in neonates who were or were not prenatally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 to determine whether infants prenatally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 are at risk of developing neurological disorders. Fifty-six infants, including 28 in the exposed group of mothers without vaccination who had no need for intensive care and likely had SARS-CoV-2 infection close to the time of pregnancy resolution and 28 infants in the nonexposed group, were videotaped to compare their detailed early motor repertoires, in which a motor optimality score-revised (MOS-R) was calculated using Prechtl's method by using the chi-square or Mann-Whitney U tests. In the exposed group, 3 (11%) infants showed the absence of fidgety movements with a total MOS-R<14 points, and 3 (11%) other infants showed abnormal fidgety movements. Between groups, atypical body symmetry (p = 0.009) and MOS-R values were significantly lower (Z = -3.08, p = 0.002), with a large size effect (Cohen's d = 0.97). The consequences of this new virus go beyond the health of the pregnant mother, and these consequences in some of the infants in the exposed group are likely not transitory because of the absence of fidgety movements between 3-5 months; thus, these babies are at increased risk of developing a serious neurological disorder.
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