일반적으로 성인들에게 가벼운 감염증을 일으키는 흔한 한 바이러스가 자궁 속에서 태아들을 감염시킬 경우에는 그 아기들이 심각한 호흡기 질환이나 다른 문제점들이 발생할 수 있다고 연구진들이 보고하였다.
Virus in Placenta Linked to Problems in Newborns
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A common virus that causes generally mild infections in adults can cause serious respiratory and other problems in infants infected in utero, researchers report.
In a study of seven newborns with severe respiratory problems and later neurological problems and developmental delays, the researchers found signs of a Coxsackie virus infection in six of the seven.
Coxsackie viruses take their name from the upstate New York town where they were first identified in 1948. Infection with these viruses is typically mild, although they can cause more severe illness including meningitis and inflammation of the heart in newborn babies.
Dr. Gerard J. Nuovo from Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, and colleagues analyzed placental tissue from the seven newborns. They also analyzed tissue from the placentas of 10 healthy infants (the ``control group'') and from five infants infected with other common viruses in utero, including cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex and parvovirus.
In six of the seven infants with respiratory failure, genetic material from the coxsackie virus was found. The other infant was negative for all tested viruses. However, none of the placenta tissue of the 10 controls or the five infants with a known placental infection showed evidence of coxsackie virus infection, the researchers report in the December issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Soon after birth, the infants affected by coxsackie had severe mental defects that required physical, occupational and sometimes institutional therapy. These children also occasionally needed treatment to prevent seizures.
``This study provides direct evidence that placental infection with coxsackie virus does occur. It also provides indirect evidence that coxsackie virus infection of the fetus acquired in utero caused the global and severe developmental delays that each child exhibited,'' Nuovo and colleagues conclude.
Their findings, they add, underscore the importance of testing the placenta for viral infection in newborns with severe illness.
(소스: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011227/hl/newborns_1.html)
|
