Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infection in pregnancy: Absence of virus transmission to the fetuses despite severe maternal disease - A case study.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an emerging infectious disease in large parts of Europe and Asia. Whereas other members of the Flaviviridae family can harm fetal development, there are only very few reports on TBE virus (TBEV) infections during pregnancy. Thus, the implications for fetal health remain largely unknown. In this study, we present detailed pre- and postnatal health assessment of three children in the context of severe maternal TBEV infection during pregnancy. Following acute TBEV infection of the mothers, intrauterine growth and development of all children were assessed by repetitive prenatal ultrasound. Postnatal examinations included clinical and virological analyses over a follow-up period of 18 months. Prenatally, no signs of intrauterine growth restrictions were observed. All neonates were delivered at term. Umbilical cord blood of the newborns tested negative for TBEV RNA. Virus-specific IgG antibodies were positive at birth but negative at 9 and 11 months of age. Importantly, IgM antibodies remained negative throughout the period of observation. Taken together, these clinical and virological data strongly suggest that fetal TBEV infection did not occur, despite severe manifestations in the mothers.

Veje, MalinGothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biomedicin, avdelningen för infektionssjukdomar,Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Medicine(Swepub:gu)xvejma (author)
Dobler, Gerhard (author)
Bergström, Tomas,1950Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biomedicin, avdelningen för infektionssjukdomar,Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Medicine(Swepub:gu)xberto (author)
Buxmann, Horst (author)
Paul, Bettina (author)
Louwen, Frank (author)
Berger, Annemarie (author)
Jahnke, Kolja (author)
Strzelczyk, Adam (author)
Studahl, Marie,1957Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biomedicin, avdelningen för infektionssjukdomar,Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Medicine(Swepub:gu)xstuma (author)
Hentz, Elisabet (author)
Nürnberger, Lucas (author)
Göteborgs universitetInstitutionen för biomedicin, avdelningen för infektionssjukdomar (creator_code:org_t)

By the author/editor: Divé, Iris; Veje, Malin; Dobler, Gerhard; Bergström, Tomas ...; Buxmann, Horst; Paul, Bettina; show more...; Louwen, Frank; Berger, Annemari ...; Jahnke, Kolja; Strzelczyk, Adam; Studahl, Marie, ...; Hentz, Elisabet; Nürnberger, Luca ...; show less...

About the subject

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES: MEDICAL AND HEAL ...; and Clinical Medicin ...; and Infectious Medic ...

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.