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Protozoan and helminth infections in pregnancy. Short-term and long-term implications of transmission of infection from mother to foetus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2007

ESKILD PETERSEN
ESKILD PETERSEN*
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author: Eskild Petersen, MD, DSc, DTM&H, Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Phone: +45 8949 8307. Fax: +45 8949 8310. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

This review of protozoan and helminth infections in pregnancy focuses on the impact on the immune response in the newborn infant to maternal infection. Studies of protozoan and helminth infections in pregnant women and in their offspring have shown that children exposed to antigens or microorganisms during pregnancy often have a reduced immune response to these infections. The most common finding is a reduced IFNγ response to specific antigens regardless of specific infection studied. In some studies the impaired immune response disappeared before the age of one year, while in other studies the impaired immune response was present as much as two decades after birth. Data from chronic viral infections like Rubella, cytomegalovirus and hepatitis B also show that congenital or perinatal infections may result in a life-long inability to control the infections. Studies of both helminth and protozoan infections show that children exposed to antigens during gestation have a microorganism-specific impaired immune response which is characterized by reduced IFN-γ and stimulation of responses to specific antigens.

Keywords

Pregnancynewbornsprotective immunitytolerance protozoahelminth
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 134 , Special Issue 13: PARASITES IN PREGNANCY , December 2007 , pp. 1855 - 1862
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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