Pregancy and the Flu

Posting Date: 12/15/2003

FLU INFLUENZA MOTHERS PREGNANCY FEVER PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Pregnant mothers should be particularly wary of the nation's current flu outbreak. That's because recent research has found that women who experience fever during their second trimester of pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children who develop emotional and psychological disorders ? including inhibition, negative emotionality and attention deficits.

In a first of its kind study, Dr. Stefan Dombrowski, assistant professor of graduate education (school psychology) at Rider University; Dr. Roy P. Martin of the University of Georgia; and Dr. Matti Huttunen of the University of Helsinki, report that elevated temperatures during that time period may have an adverse effect on the development of the central nervous system of the fetus, resulting in abnormalities of psychological development and behavior that can be observed in childhood.

The study, ?Association Between Maternal Fever and Psychological/Behavior Outcomes: A Hypothesis,? was published in the November issue of Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology -- a professional journal. Among its key findings:

* Infants (age 6 months) whose mothers reported fever during second trimester became significantly more distressed around new situations or strange adults

* Preschool children (age 5) whose mothers reported fever during the second trimester could not attend to play and learning materials as long as their peers, and are more socially inhibited in the presence of strange adults or children

* At age 12, the children are at greater risk for reduced academic performance and decreased ability to focus on tasks.

?There is a significant body of research that investigates the association between influenza during the second trimester of pregnancy and later development of psychiatric disorders in offspring, including schizophrenia,? said Dombrowski. ?However, the influenza virus does not appear to cross the placental barrier. As a result, researchers have speculated that fever might be the mechanism of adverse impact. Our study is the first to investigate the possibility that maternal fever during pregnancy may be linked to later psychological, behavioral, and academic outcomes.

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