(Newser)
– The researchers found that coronavirus antibodies are transferred from the mother to the child during pregnancy, reports CNN. The researchers tested more than 1,500 women who gave birth at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Hospital and found that 83 had antibodies against the coronavirus. The newborns of 72 of these women also tested positive for the antibodies, the study published on Friday revealed. “What we found is quite consistent with what we learned from studies of other viruses,” Scott E. Hensley, one of the study’s authors, told the New York Times, adding that it appears that pregnant women transfer more antibodies to their babies if they become infected in early pregnancy. It is not yet known whether the amount of antibodies transmitted to a baby is sufficient to prevent him from receiving COVID-19.
And more research is needed to determine whether antibodies generated by vaccines will behave like those resulting from a COVID-19 infection. But because babies of women who were infected in early pregnancy had higher levels of antibodies, Hensley tells the Timesvaccinating pregnant women earlier may offer more protection. “But the studies that really look at vaccination among pregnant women need to be completed,” he says. Mark Turrentine, a doctor who is part of a group of COVID experts, says it is “plausible” that a vaccine provides protection for pregnant mothers and their newborns, adding “this study highlights that the inclusion of pregnant women in clinical trials like o Covid- Vaccine 19 is essential. ”(Read more stories from COVID-19.)