Maternal Common Cold or Fever During Pregnancy and the Risk of Orofacial Clefts in the Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

This article systematically reviews and meta-analyzes 13 case-control studies to investigate associations between maternal common cold or fever during pregnancy and the risk of orofacial clefts—specifically cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/CP) and cleft palate only (CPO)—in offspring. The findings indicate modest but statistically significant increased risks of CL/CP and CPO associated with maternal common cold (ORs approximately 2.17 and 3.08, respectively) and fever (ORs approximately 1.91 for CL/CP and 1.48 for CPO). Similar associations were observed for maternal influenza infection. The authors note limitations including heterogeneity among studies, reliance on self-reported exposure without virological confirmation, and potential recall and selection biases, emphasizing the need for future prospective cohort studies with detailed exposure assessments to clarify these relationships.