Maternal Virus Infection and Congenital Anomalies

Abstract

A continuing prospective study of the incidence of viral infections during pregnancy and their association with congenital malformations is described. Histories of illness during pregnancy are recorded, and blood samples are taken again at delivery. Infants are observed for one year. When anomalies are diagnosed and classified, the maternal sera, together with matched control specimens from mothers of normal infants, are tested for serological evidence of infection with selected viruses. Several viruses appear to be more frequently encountered during pregnancy by mothers of infants with certain types of anomalies. Most strikingly, a statistically greater incidence of infection with type B coxsackieviruses, and especially B3 and B4, has been observed in mothers of infants with congenital heart disease than in mothers of normal children.