A Chinese team, which published its findings Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, followed 33 pregnant women from Wuhan city, where the new coronavirus was first identified, and found that only three babies had were infected at birth, a rate of 9%. Their study therefore shows that transmission of the virus during pregnancy is possible, although rare.
"Because strict infection control and prevention procedures had been taken during delivery, it is likely that the strains of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract and anus of newborns were of maternal origin ", specify the Chinese researchers.
SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name for the virus, which causes the disease known as Covid-19. The three infected babies were all boys, born by caesarean section because their mothers suffered from coronavirus pneumonia. One of them was premature, born after 31 weeks of pregnancy, and had to be resuscitated.
The three children survived
The other two babies were feverish and lethargic, and one of them had pneumonia. They were both placed in intensive care and tested negative for the virus on their 6th day. The premature baby was most severely affected with pneumonia, difficulty breathing and sepsis. He was cured by intensive care treatments, including the use of a ventilator, antibiotics and caffeine, and was tested negative for coronavirus on day 7. All three survived.
Chinese experts had already reported a case of so-called "vertical" transmission, from mother to fetus, when a baby was tested positive 30 hours after birth. Transmission can occur through the placenta or during childbirth. "It is therefore crucial to test all pregnant women and apply strict infection control measures, quarantine of infected mothers and close monitoring of newborns," concludes the Chinese study.
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