Alphatorquevirus is the most prevalent virus identified in blood from a matched maternal-infant preterm cohort

To determine the prevalence of virus in a previously uncharacterized matched maternal-infant preterm cohort and test if viral presence or viral load correlate with histologic chorioamnionitis, spontaneous preterm labor or pre-eclampsia.

Using qRT-PCR/qPCR we tested plasma or whole blood samples from 56 matched maternal and premature infant dyads for: adenovirus, anellovirus (alphatorquevirus and betatorquevirus), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), enterovirus, human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6), parechovirus, and parvovirus B19.

Viral detection was more common in maternal samples 29/56 (52%) than in cord blood from their infants (4/56 (7%)) (p ≤ .0001). No significant difference in viral load or viral prevalence was identified between pregnancies with and without histologic chorioamnionitis, spontaneous preterm labor or pre-eclampsia.

Despite frequent detection of virus in maternal samples, virus was less frequently detected in the infants. Additionally, there was no association of presence or quantity of virus in maternal blood with histologic chorioamnionitis, spontaneous preterm labor or pre-eclampsia in this small, but well-defined cohort. Future studies are necessary to further characterize the role of virus in placental inflammatory states and pregnancy outcomes.