Although something more is learned every day about how the coronavirus behaves among children, with the existing data after a year living in a pandemic, it is known that vertical transmission during pregnancy is rare, as is newborn infection at the time of delivery or the days after, with skin-to-skin contact with the mother and breastfeeding.
Still, contagion is possible and sometimes with surprising results. This is the case of a baby born in Sweden, who was not only born with Covid-19, but was also found to have a mutation of the virus. It is the first time that experts have come across something similar, a study that has been published in The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, one of the few scientific papers that has investigated the transmission of the coronavirus through the placenta.
Preterm delivery due to lack of oxygen
It all started when a pregnant woman suspected of Covid-19 was taken by ambulance to Skåne University Hospital, in Malmo (Sweden), suffering from severe abdominal pain. Doctors observed that the baby’s heart rate was very low, which could mean that he was not getting enough oxygen.
They performed an emergency cesarean section and the baby was born within minutes. Blood tests on the baby confirmed that he had a very low oxygen level, and throat swabs showed that both mother and baby had Covid.
In addition, they sequenced the genome of the virus to confirm whether the newborn had been infected while still in the womb. The researchers found that the viral genome of the mother and the baby was identical. As the baby had been isolated from the mother directly after the cesarean section and had not been in contact with other family members when these tests were done, the results confirmed that the baby had been infected before birth.
However, a few days later, a new genetic sequencing showed that the baby had a mutated version of the virus along with the original strain of the virus from the mother.
Experts explain that, although it is common for viruses to change, this mutation (called A107G) occurred only five days after delivery . The genetic changes may have been stimulated by the baby’s contact with the external environment outside the womb, but it is surprising how quickly they occurred.
The mother quickly recovered from her Covid infection and was discharged four days after delivery, but the baby needed neonatal care as she was born prematurely (34 weeks pregnant).
The baby developed antibodies against the virus and had no severe symptoms after delivery.
Changes in the placenta
The placenta carries blood and nutrients to the fetus and removes waste, and is critical to the growth and well-being of the fetus. Experts explain that they discovered that half of the tissue was damaged :
“There was widespread inflammation and we found coronavirus protein on both the mother’s and fetus’ side of the placenta. We also found the coronavirus protein in all areas damaged by inflammation.”
This study is one of the few scientific papers that have investigated the transmission of the coronavirus through the placenta. As they explain in the investigation, “the previous studies had found failures in the placenta and an abnormal heart rhythm of the fetus, something similar to what we have found”.
But after a year and thousands of infected pregnant women around the world, it has been proven that mother-to-baby transmission in the womb appears to be a rare complication.
Scientists believe this is due to the placental barrier that protects the baby in the womb from most infections.
According to the researchers, in very few cases the coronavirus damages the placenta. So, it causes a lack of oxygen in the fetus, even if the mother has a mild case of Covid in late pregnancy.
For all this, the experts point out that these discoveries suggest that perhaps we should rethink how we control pregnant women who have Covid, and that they should be considered a more important risk group than the current one.
Another unique case of contact in babies
There is no need to sound the alarm because it could be just an anecdote or just one more sign of what is happening with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the constant changes it is undergoing in its evolution.
Despite the fact that all the data available to date indicates that children are less infected with Covid and that when they do, they usually develop mild symptoms or be asymptomatic , there are exceptions that baffle scientists.
As reported by The Washington Post, among the more than 2,000 children treated for coronavirus at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC, a baby with very unusual characteristics was born.
First of all, the baby was very sick. But the real surprise came when doctors measured the baby’s viral load. It was 51,418 times higher than the average for other children, and when they sequenced the baby’s virus, they found a variant they hadn’t seen before.
Roberta DeBiasi, chief of infectious diseases at this hospital, knew that she could not conclude anything from a single case. But it set off alarms.
In any case, they point out that these cases may be mere anecdotes or pieces of a puzzle necessary to understand how the virus behaves.
In general, children do not get sick from the coronavirus the way adults do. The rate of serious cases among minors is low, although why is not yet known. It could be something related to your age or having been exposed to a similar pathogen recently.
Little by little the virus is becoming better understood, so ongoing research and vaccine trials will help us fight it and protect our children.
Vía | Today24 News y The Washington Post
Photos | iStock
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