Summary: A new study found that babies born during the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic, including those exposed to the disease in womb, were no more likely to monitor good for autism than pre-pandemic kids.
Researchers found no differences in dementia risk between these groups using a developmental screening questionnaire for children between the ages of 16 and 30 months. Unsurprisingly, children whose mothers were pregnant with COVID were less likely to have a good autism screen.
Parents are comforted by the study’s assurance that pandemic-related parental pressure or disease does not appear to raise autism risk.
Important Information:
- Pandemic-born kids showed no higher dementia chance compared to pre-pandemic classmates.
- In womb, COVID exposure was less likely to lead to dementia screening.
- Scientists continue to look for various developmental issues in pandemic-born children.
Origin: Columbia University
According to researchers from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, babies born during the first year of the epidemic, including those who were exposed to COVID in utero, were not more likely to have dementia screens than undiscovered or pre-pandemic kids.  ,
The review, published in , JAMA Network Open, is the first statement on dementia risk among pandemic-era babies.
According to Dani Dumitriu, equate professor of medicine and psychiatry and older author of the study,” Autism risk is known to increase with virtually any kind of attack to baby during pregnancy, including infections and stress.”
” The size of the COVID pandemic had doctors, scientists, and development experts worried that we would see an uptick in dementia levels. But reassuringly, we did n’t find any indication of such an increase in our study”.
It’s important to note, Dumitriu adds, that the study did not look at dementia diagnosis, only the risk of developing dementia as measured by a screen questionnaire filled in by the boy’s families.
” It’s too early to have clear clinical quantities”, she says. However, this screener is predictive, and it does n’t demonstrate that prenatal exposure to COVID or the pandemic increases the risk of autism.
” There has been a lot of debate about how the COVID technology is evolving, and this research gives us the first glimpse of an answer regarding autism risk.”
Investigating dementia danger and COVID ,
Dumitriu’s team has been studying the potential effects of COVID—pandemic-related maternal stress and maternal infection—on child neurodevelopment at different points since birth through the COMBO ( COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes ) Initiative. Children who were in the uterus during the initial stages of the pandemic are now approaching the age when first signs of autism chance may start to emerge.
The current study examined almost 2, 000 babies born at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Allen Hospital between January 2018 and September 2021. Autism chance was determined based on responses to a neurodevelopment testing questionnaire that pediatricians offer parents to assess toddler behavior.  ,
Results were compared for children who were born during the pandemic and those who were not. Additionally, scores were compared for those who had and did not have COVID in gestation contact. All babies were tested between the ages of 16 and 30 times.  ,
Reassuring results  ,
The scientists found no difference between dementia checks for children born before or during the pandemic.  ,
This pleasant information is for pregnant women who are concerned about getting sick and the potential effects on autism risk, according to Dumitriu.
Amazingly, the study also discovered that fewer babies who were exposed to COVID in utero had dementia screenings compared to those whose mothers did not include COVID.
” We suspect that having COVID during childbirth may have influenced parents ‘ evaluation of their child’s actions”, Dumitriu says.
Parents without COVID may have experienced higher pressure because they are constantly concerned about getting sick and vigilant about preventing infections, and they may have been more likely to report incidents involving child behavior.
Had dementia show up later in youth?  ,  ,
The scientists will continue to monitor the babies for dementia diagnoses as they get older. However, based on the most recent research, Dumitriu believes it’s improbable that there will be an increase in autism related to COVID.
We’re certainly seeing them in this study because early signs of autism are now emerging in babies who were in the womb at the start of the epidemic, according to Dumitriu.
” And because it’s well-known that dementia is influenced by the antenatal setting, this is very reassuring”.
However, additional conditions may develop as children get older, and the scientists may continue to study their neurodevelopment as they get older.
Various studies of infants who were in utero during past pandemics, natural disasters, famines, and wartime have shown that various developmental conditions, probably triggered by the difficult environment, can emerge in adolescence and also earlier adulthood.  ,
Morgan Firestein, interact research professor in psychology and first author of the study, urges us to appreciate the unique experience and environment of children who were born during the pandemic, including parental stress and social isolation, and continue to monitor them for possible development or medical differences.
More information ,  ,
Dani Dumitriu, MD, is an attending pediatrician in the Newborn Medicine Section at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.  ,
Other authors ( all from Columbia University and affiliates except where noted ) are Angela Manessis, Jen Warmingham, Ruiyang Xu, Yunzhe Hu, Morgan A. Finkel, Margaret Kyle, Maha Hussain, Imaal Ahmed Andréane Lavallée, Ana Solis, Vitoria Chavez, Cynthia Rodriguez, Sylvie Goldman, Rebecca A. Muhle, Seonjoo Lee, Judy Austin, Wendy G. Silver, Kally C. O’Reilly, Jennifer M. Bain, Anna A. Penn, Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, Melissa S. Stockwell, William P. Fifer, Rachel Marsh, Catherine Monk, Lauren C. Shuffrey ( New York University ).  ,
Funding: The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health ( R01MH126531 and T32MH016434 ) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( K99HD108389 and P2CHD058486 ).  ,
The authors report no conflicts of interest. Additional details are provided in the article.  ,
About this news from autism research
Author: Helen Garey
Source: Columbia University
Contact: Helen Garey – Columbia University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The findings will appear in JAMA Network Open
