Researchers Investigate If COVID-19 Can Pass To A Fetus In The Womb
The cases of three infected newborns raise concerns that the virus can be transmitted during pregnancy, but studies are still early. “Is it possible that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted in utero? Yes, especially because virus nucleic acid has been detected in blood samples” from newborns, David Kimberlin and Sergio Stagno of the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote. “Is it also possible that these results are erroneous? Absolutely.”
Stat:
New Reports Raise Possibility Pregnant Women Can Pass Coronavirus To Fetus, But Risk Is Unclear
A trio of scientific reports about Covid-19 infections in pregnant women raises concerns that the new coronavirus may be able to infect a fetus in the womb. It remains unclear if that actually happens, how often it does if that’s the case, and what if any risk it poses to fetuses. And an editorial in the journal in which two of the reports were published cautioned against putting too much weight on the findings yet. (Branswell, 3/26)
CIDRAP:
COVID-19 May Spread From Moms To Infants And By Seemingly Healthy Kids
In a research letter today in JAMA Pediatrics, Chinese researchers say that they can't rule out mother-to-baby COVID-19 transmission in three infected newborns, indicating the need for increased vigilance before and after delivery. Meanwhile, an observational cohort study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases presents evidence that children may be more likely than adults to spread coronavirus because their often-asymptomatic illness makes infections harder to identify. (Van Beusekom, 3/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Pregnant Women With Coronavirus Can Pass It To Their Babies
One of those infants was delivered by caesarean section nearly nine weeks before its due date because the mother was suffering from pneumonia caused by COVID-19. That baby’s health problems may have been primarily due to being born prematurely, not because it was infected with the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, the authors wrote. “The clinical symptoms from 33 neonates with or at risk of COVID-19 were mild and outcomes were favorable,” wrote the authors, who were from two children’s hospitals in Wuhan and one in Shanghai. (Khan and Kaplan, 3/26)
