The 2019-new coronavirus is now called Covid-19. It has infected almost 78 thousand people and caused death in more than two thousand people. In scientific circles and medical circles, the Covid-19 is called SARS-CoV-2.
SARS-CoV-2 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus. The 2 is because it shares similarities with the original SARS that caused an epidemic in 2003.
A news article came out on Feb 6 about a 30-hour old baby diagnosed with the coronavirus. That news probably caused a lot of anxiety among expectant moms. The question arises whether the Covid-19 virus can be transmitted by an infected mother to her baby in the womb because the baby was barely 2 days old.
A study published by Lancet says no. There is no transmission of the Covid-19 from the mother while the baby is inside the womb.
The paper was titled, Clinical characteristics and intrauterine vertical transmission potential of COVID-19 infection in nine pregnant women: a retrospective review of medical records.
They reviewed the records of nine pregnant mothers with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, from Jan 20 to Jan 31, 2020. The age range of the patients was 26–40 years and the range of pregnancy at admission was 36 weeks to 39 weeks plus four days.
How bad were the Covid-19 symptoms of the mothers?
- Symptoms were fever in seven, cough (4), muscle pain (3), sore throat (2), and malaise (in two).
- CT scan findings of viral pneumonia were seen in 8.
- Fetal distress was noted in two.
- None of the mothers developed severe Covid-19 pneumonia or died.
How were the babies?
- Nine live births by cesarean section
- 1-minute APGAR score of 8-9 and 5-minute APGAR score of 9-10. The APGAR score is a measure of how well the baby is doing right after delivery. 10 is the perfect score. 8 and 9 are very good.
What did they test for the presence of Covid-19 in the babies?
- They tested the water inside the uterus (amniotic fluid)
- The blood in the umbilical cord, (1&2 sampled during the cesarean section)
- Throat swabs from the newborn
- Breastmilk from the mothers after the first lactation.
- All 1 – 4 tested negative for the Covid-19.
How good are the quality of the tests?
- Sample collection, processing, and laboratory testing complied with WHO guidance.
- All samples, as described above, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by use of qRT-PCR with the CDC recommended Kit. qRT-PCR stands for a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and is used to identify and count the Covid-19 virus
Take- Away Message
There is no evidence for the transmission of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) from the mother to her baby that is inside the womb.
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Reference:
Huijun Chen, Juanjuan Guo, Chen Wang, Fan Luo, Xuechen Yu, Prof Wei Zhang, et al. Clinical characteristics and intrauterine vertical transmission potential of COVID-19 infection in nine pregnant women: a retrospective review of medical records.
Lancet. February 12, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30360-3
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