Covid +ve moms don’t infect newborn: Study
NOIDA: A study conducted at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida has found that Covid-19 does not have direct adverse effects on the foetus and the possibility of transmission from infected mother to newborn is almost negligible.
The study conducted by the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the GIMS evaluated the effect of coronavirus disease on neonatal outcomes and the scope of vertical transmission from mothers to newborns in from April 1 to August 31, 2020. A total of 44 neonates born to 41 Covid-19 positive mothers were evaluated during the course of the entire study.
“We have successfully treated thousands of Covid-19 patients since March 2020. From our experience, we know that there are very low chances of transmission from infected mothers to newborns during delivery. We also know that the disease has had only minor symptoms among children. However, we had to conduct a proper study to prove what we saw from experience. This is what our doctors have now published,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, director, GIMS.
The study enrolled 41 pregnant women infected with Covid-19 in North India and four of them delivered twins. Among them, 28 patients or 68.3% gave birth within seven days of testing Covid-19 positive. Additionally, 23 patients or 56% were delivered by Caesarean section, 13 newborns or 29.5% had low birth weight, seven newborns were preterm and six required neonatal intensive care unit admission. The observation reflects an increased incidence of Caesarean delivery and low birth weight, but zero neonatal mortality.
Samples of cord blood, placental membrane, vaginal fluid, amniotic fluid, peritoneal fluid in case of Caesarean section, and breast milk for Covid-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tested negative in 22 prospective delivery cases.
Nasopharyngeal swabs of two newborns tested positive for Covid-19—one at 24 hours and the other four days after birth. In the first case, biological samples were not collected as the mother was asymptomatic and her Covid-19 report was available after delivery. Hence, the source of infection remained inconclusive. In the latter case, all samples tested negative, ruling out the possibility of vertical transmission. All neonates remained asymptomatic on their follow ups for over a fortnight.
The researchers told HT that the study was followed up with another one where samples of newborns from the first and second wave were taken. “In this study, we found four positive newborns, but even they were completely asymptomatic and turned negative within a week of testing positive. We have concluded that there is absolutely no evidence at all of Covid-19 being transmitted from pregnant mothers to their babies directly. Even in cases that were positive, it could be due to several factors such as contamination during delivery or later,” said Dr Ritu Sharma, the lead researcher at the GIMS.