Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38733459›Full record

ArticleInfection2024

Association of common maternal infections with birth outcomes: a multinational cohort study.

Jian-Rong He, Gabriella Tikellis, Ora Paltiel, Mark Klebanoff, Per Magnus, Kate Northstone, Jean Golding, Mary H Ward, Martha S Linet, Sjurdur F Olsen and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Infection, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Infection-Related Preterm Birth.Maternal-fetal medicine (Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.) · 2025
    Review
  8. Observational
  9. Article
  10. Placental Molecular Expression of Different Pathogenic Vaginal Infections.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Jian-Rong HeDivision of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. jianrong.he@bigcs.org.
Gabriella TikellisMurdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Ora PaltielBraun School of Public Health, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Mark KlebanoffCenter for Perinatal Research, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.
Per MagnusCentre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Kate NorthstoneFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Jean GoldingBristol Medical School, Centre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Mary H WardOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.
Martha S LinetDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Sjurdur F OlsenCentre for Fetal Programming, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gary S PhillipsConsultant Retired From the Center for Biostatistics, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Stanley LemeshowDivision of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Xiu QiuDivision of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Jane E HirstNuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Terence DwyerNuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

Cancer Risk and Environmental ExposuresZIACP010125 · NCI · DIVISION OF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS · PI PURDUE, MARK · 2009 to 2025
$41.3M
Medical Research Council G9815508Medical Research Council MC_PC_15018Medical Research Council MC_PC_19009Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China 2022YFC2704601Research Council of Norway 262700
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeIt is unclear whether common maternal infections during pregnancy are risk factors for adverse birth outcomes. We assessed the association between self-reported infections during pregnancy with preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) in an international cohort consortium.

methodsData on 120,507 pregnant women were obtained from six population-based birth cohorts in Australia, Denmark, Israel, Norway, the UK and the USA. Self-reported common infections during pregnancy included influenza-like illness, common cold, any respiratory tract infection, vaginal thrush, vaginal infections, cystitis, urinary tract infection, and the symptoms fever and diarrhoea. Birth outcomes included preterm birth, low birth weight and SGA. Associations between maternal infections and birth outcomes were first assessed using Poisson regression in each cohort and then pooled using random-effect meta-analysis. Risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, adjusted for potential confounders.

resultsVaginal infections (pooled RR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02-1.20) and urinary tract infections (pooled RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.26) during pregnancy were associated with higher risk of preterm birth. Similar associations with low birth weight were also observed for these two infections. Fever during pregnancy was associated with higher risk of SGA (pooled RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.12). No other significant associations were observed between maternal infections/symptoms and birth outcomes.

conclusionVaginal infections and urinary infections during pregnancy were associated with a small increased risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, whereas fever was associated with SGA. These findings require confirmation in future studies with laboratory-confirmed infection diagnosis.

Indexed as

Pregnancy Complications, InfectiousPregnancy OutcomePremature BirthAdultAustraliaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInfant, Low Birth WeightInfant, NewbornInfant, Small for Gestational AgePregnancyRisk FactorsUrinary Tract InfectionsYoung AdultCohort studyFetal growthMaternal infectionPreterm birth

Identifiers

PMID38733459

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.