The findings also suggest that vaccinating pregnant women could also protect their unborn babies, the researchers said – and is worth studying the possibility. Pregnant women are advised to take flu vaccines to protect themselves and their babies.
Newborn specialist Dr. Dustin Flannery of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues studied more than 1,400 mothers and newborns. They found that protective IgG antibodies were transferred across the placenta in 72 of the 83 infected or previously infected pregnant women they studied.
None of the babies born to infected mothers developed a coronavirus infection. And 60% of the women with antibodies to the coronavirus had no symptoms, the researchers reported.
“Can maternal antibodies help delay the onset of infection or protect the child from infection, serious illness, or death from COVID-19?” asked Dr. Flor Munoz, a molecular virologist at Baylor College of Medicine who was not involved in the study.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends immunizing babies against the flu after six months, for example, even if the mothers were vaccinated during pregnancy.
“To what extent can antibodies transmitted in breast milk protect nursing newborns?” Munoz asked.
Should infants be vaccinated regardless of maternal infection, and if so, what is the best timing to initiate infant vaccines? Is there a potentially deleterious effect of maternal antibodies on infants’ responses to active immunization? vaccine and vaccination regimen are? for infants, given their risk and unique immunological needs? “