(CNN) – Investigators said a pregnant woman passed the unborn child on the coronavirus.
The woman became infected during the last trimester of pregnancy, and the virus did affect the baby.
At the height of the pandemic in France in late March, dozens of pregnant mothers with severe coronavirus symptoms were admitted to the Antoine-Béclère Hospital.
In a recently published research paper in the medical journal Nature, Dr. Daniele de Luca, who specializes in critical care for newborns at the hospital outside Paris, said it was now confirmed that one of the mothers transmitted the virus to your unborn baby.
“This is the reality: the virus can pass through the placenta to the baby. At first we thought, ‘Well, this is never going to happen, this is not true.’ That’s the reality and that’s the bad news, “he said.
The doctor said the virus was present in the mother’s blood, which is rare, and then it was transmitted through the placenta. and when she gave birth to the baby, she tested positive for the virus.
There were already strong suspicions of what is called neonatal transmission, but de Luca said his study confirms this. The hospital performed half a dozen tests on the baby: swabs, blood tests, tests for the placenta, the nucleus, the amniotic fluid, all within an hour of birth, all of which confirms that the baby was actually infected even before for him to come. in this world
Within 24 hours, the newborn had severe neurological complications: brain swelling and irregular muscle movements.
“I can’t deny that we were very concerned at first,” said de Luca. “They were severe symptoms. So we were worried, and then, like I told you, they got pretty steady. We were happy. “
The virus left no lasting damage, and the baby was released from the hospital less than three weeks later.
“When it happens, well, as you see, the baby will most likely recover very soon on its own.” de Luca said.
According to the doctor, there is now increasing evidence that newborns are resistant to COVID-19, and the best news of all, he said, neonatal transmission of the virus remains extremely rare.
Copyright 2020 CNN. All rights reserved.
.
