Open AccessExamination for influenza IgA and IgM antibodies in pregnancies associated with fetal neural-tube defects
Author(s) -
Mary Warrell,
J. O'h. Tobin,
Niel Wald
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of medical microbiology/journal of medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1473-5644
pISSN - 0022-2615
DOI - 10.1099/00222615-14-1-159
Subject(s) - anencephaly , spina bifida , antibody , neural tube , pregnancy , medicine , fetus , obstetrics , immunology , immunoglobulin m , immunoglobulin g , biology , pediatrics , embryo , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Early antenatal serum specimens were collected from 25 women who subsequently gave birth to infants with anencephaly or spina bifida. Fluorescent-antibody test for influenza-specific IgA and IgM antibodies, although shown to be reliable for the detection of recent influenzal infection, failed to demonstrate such infection in any of these women. Early infection was detected in one of 50 control women who gave birth to a healthy infant. The results indicate that influenzal infection in pregnancy was not a major cause of neural-tubal defects in Oxford during 1972--76, if a cause at all.