Protective antibodies also found in premature babies

Even premature babies carry anti-viral antibodies transferred from the mother, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in a paper on maternal antibodies in newborns, published in the journal Nature Medicine. The results should change our approach to infection sensitivity in newborns, they say. Antibodies are transferred from the mother's blood to the fetus that gives the newborn passive defense against infection. Since most of this process takes place during the third trimester of the pregnancy, doctors have regarded very premature babies as being unprotected by such maternal antibodies. However, now that the total repertoire of maternal anti-viral antibodies has been analyzed in neonates by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, another picture is emerging.