Corona may be less harmful for pregnant women and children…!

The new coronavirus has been spreading quickly across the Hubei Region in China since it first appeared late December, quickly infecting over 60,000 people across 25 countries. The coronavirus can spread readily between humans -it’s estimated each sick person spreads it to two others -early Source shows very few children have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. There may be a chance that children have a lower risk of getting sick.

Additionally, new research out of Wuhan, China, suspects that the virus was not pass from pregnant women to fetuses during pregnancy. After a newborn whose mother had COVID-19 tested positive for the infection just 36 hours after being born.

“It appears that the transmission ways do not include amniotic fluid, cord blood, or breast milk, all of which may be routes for a vertical transmission”. It’s not clear how the virus affects women in the early stages of pregnancy as this study only observed at those in their third trimester. Women who are infected with the coronavirus will likely need to be inaccessible from their newborns after birth to avoid infecting them via close contact.

Pregnant mothers don’t seem to pass it on to fetuses

The study evaluated nine pregnant women between the ages of 26 and 40 who were identified with pneumonia caused by COVID-19. All of the women were in their third trimester and successfully gave birth via cesarean delivery. The samples of amniotic fluid, cord blood, breast milk, and neonatal throat swabs were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, all of which tested negatively.

The most prominent finding was that the virus was not passed from the mother to the fetus in the womb due to “the placenta and amniotic fluid sac protecting the fetus. Even in mothers with sepsis or bacteria in the bloodstream, the fetus is typically unaffected”.

All women were in their the third trimester, so it’s unfamiliar how those in their first or second trimesters would respond to the infection. Because the women all gave birth via cesarean delivery, it’s unclear whether the virus could be transmitted to the baby during vaginal birth.

The infection appears less severe in children

Very few children have been infected with the new coronavirus and those who test positively for COVID-19 seems to experience minor symptoms compared to older people.

Most of the patients also had an underlying infection, so the severity of the disease may depend on the person’s overall health leading up to the infection.

Contact Details

Anna Gill

Program Manager | Fetal Medicine 2020

Tel: +1-201-380-5561

What's app- +44 7723584425

Email: fetalmedicine@memeetings.com