Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy is associated with a “modestly greater” risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in male infants, a large US study suggests.

Researchers say the findings, based on data from 18,000 live births, are consistent with evidence that some maternal viral infections increase the likelihood of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder diagnoses in offspring.

Overall, they found that 2.9% of 833 babies exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero had neurodevelopmental diagnoses in the first year of life, compared with a rate of 1.8% in unexposed infants.

After adjusting for maternal age, preterm status, race/ethnicity and other factors, the likelihood of a diagnosis 12 months after delivery was 94% higher for exposed male offspring than non-exposed male babies.