Being a virus with a relatively short time of existence, the scientific evidence on the Covid-19 coronavirus and its effects on pregnancy and the possible ways of contagion between mothers and children is limited. Although research to date suggests that the infection is not passed from mother to child, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the virus can be transmitted during pregnancy.
Recently, a possible case of vertical transmission of Covid-19 from a pregnant woman to her baby has been detected in Madrid . The La Paz University Hospital is studying a possible case of contagion of the virus from mother to child in a delivery that took place a month ago, at the height of the pandemic. It is a type of contagion of which hardly any cases have been reported in the scientific literature.
Adriana Pellicer, Head of the Neonatology Unit explained to Europa Press that in her hospital there have been several cases of disease in newborns, but it has not been by transmission from the mother , but by environmental contact, and fortunately none has been severe.
Dr. Pellicer has reported a case “of which one could speak of vertical transmission due to the sequence of positivity in the newborn .” Transmission from mother to child, in the cases in which it occurs, occurs mainly through close contact between them after birth. He emphasizes that it is an “isolated” case and that “it is a possibility that is studied as everything related to the coronavirus.”
“There are some cases reported in the scientific literature”, has detailed Pellicer who has pointed out that “the symptoms of the coronavirus in babies seem to be of little relevance and its evolution does not reach the degrees of severity that have been seen in other populations”.
The head of Neonatology at the La Paz University Hospital talks about covid in newborns, after detecting a possible case of transmission from a pregnant woman to her baby https://t.co/gdXpVM83aU pic.twitter.com/HPmYKOSj8b
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Regarding vertical intrauterine transmission, this has been defined as the determination in the newborn of a positive test in placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood or nasopharyngeal and / or oropharyngeal swabs of the newborn through a PCR performed immediately after birth .
During these months of pandemic, in the Madrid hospital, all children born to mothers who had tested positive for covid-19 or who were under investigation have been performed. Likewise, at present, all mothers who come to give birth to the hospital are subjected to a screening to confirm whether they are infected or not and the percentage of positive cases has decreased significantly in recent days.
Vertical transmission in pregnancy
From the beginning we know that pregnant women are not more susceptible to contracting the infection compared to the general population, as well as that some show symptoms of coronavirus and others do not.
Regarding mother-to-child transmission, early research shows no evidence that the virus is transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy , and in cases of babies showing symptoms after birth, the cause cannot be determined. moment of contagion.
The cases that have been registered are few. In China, at least two cases of newborns have been detected positive for coronavirus, but it was not clear if the virus had been transmitted during pregnancy or if the baby was infected immediately after birth. One was a baby diagnosed at 17 days of age who had had contact with infected people, and the other a newborn who tested positive 30 hours after delivery. Another case was also reported in the United Kingdom of a baby who tested positive minutes after birth, who was defined as the youngest Covid-19 patient.
As in many other questions about Covid-19, there are no absolute certainties , and when we thought there were, they can change. It is not to be alarmed, but to know that we must not lower our guard with this virus. Pregnant women should continue to follow the necessary precautions and recommendations to help prevent contagion.
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