Pregnant women “are unlikely to pass Covid-19 to their baby”

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Studies have found that pregnant women who contract Covid-19 in the third trimester

  • The researchers studied and tracked 64 pregnant women who had Covid
  • None of their babies were infected with coronavirus after birth
  • Coronavirus was also not detected in the baby’s placenta

By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Pregnant women who get the coronavirus do not pass it on to unborn babies, according to a new study.

Researchers in the United States tracked 64 women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between April 2 and June 13.

None of the children tested positive for Covid-19 after birth and no placental coronavirus was detected.

While Harvard academics warn that the small sample size makes it impossible to rule out the fact that some pregnant women could transmit the virus to their children, they show that the natural defense of pregnancy removes the virus, they say.

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Researchers in the United States tracked 64 women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between April 2 and June 13. None of the children tested positive for Covid-19 (stock)

Researchers in the United States tracked 64 women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between April 2 and June 13. None of the children tested positive for Covid-19 (stock)

Waiting mothers were in the third trimester and had the virus in their lungs, nose and throat, but not in their bloodstream or placenta.

Other data, which includes information about women who contracted the virus earlier in pregnancy, will be published soon, the researchers say.

The latest research was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Washington DC.

The expectant mothers were in the third trimester and had the virus in their lungs, nose and throat, not in their bloodstream or placenta. Other data including information on women who contracted the virus earlier in pregnancy is due soon (stock)

The expectant mothers were in the third trimester and had the virus in their lungs, nose and throat, not in their bloodstream or placenta. Other data including information on women who contracted the virus earlier in pregnancy is due soon (stock)

Children may be more likely to catch the mutant Covid variant than the original strain

Children may be at greater risk of catching the new mutated coronavirus variant than any previous strain, government advisers said yesterday.

Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and a member of the No10 NERVTAG advisory group, said there was a “clue” that children – who had so far only been affected by the pandemic – were more susceptible to mutation.

The academic, known as “Professor Lockdown”, played an important role in the March restrictions in the UK, but gave up his position as an advisor on SAGE after displaying the guidance he helped his married boyfriend visit. .

He said it is possible that the growth of the new variant, called B.1.1.7, during the November blockade – which took place during the school year – could have happened because the variant is better at infecting children than at past SARS-CoV-2 iterations.

Researchers believe the new strain of the virus, which Matt Hancock said is “out of control,” is 50 to 70 percent more infectious, but they don’t think it’s more deadly or causes a more severe disease, either. adults or children.

Dr. Diana Bianchi, director of NICHD, said: “This study provides a number of assurances that SARS-CoV-2 infections during the third trimester are unlikely to pass through the placenta into the fetus, but more needs to be done. research to confirm this finding. ‘

Of those who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the study, 23 were asymptomatic, 22 had a mild illness, seven had a moderate illness, ten had a severe illness, and three had a critical illness.

In addition to those who tested positive, another 63 pregnant women who were COVID negative and 11 women who were not pregnant were included in the study for comparison.

The researchers found that the risk of reduced blood flow to the placenta was higher for women who had the worst cases of the disease.

They also observed lower-than-expected levels of protective antibodies in umbilical cord blood, but much higher levels of flu-specific antibodies.

This, they say, may be due to the flu and suggests that COVID antibodies do not pass through the placenta, as do antibodies to other viruses.

The results also showed that only a very low level of COVID antibodies reached the unborn baby, raising several questions about potential immunity.

The study’s author, Dr. Andrea Edlow of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said: “It will be important to determine why these maternal antibodies are less likely to cross the placenta and whether this reduced antibody transfer makes it new. -borns to be more vulnerable to SARS- CoV-2 infection compared to other infections.

“It will be important to determine how lower levels of maternal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can affect the health outcomes of premature babies, as COVID-19 may increase the risk of premature labor.

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Covid-19 can cause paralysis in children in rare cases

Coronavirus infection can cause paralysis in children in very rare cases, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Manchester looked at neurological symptoms in 38 unusual cases of Covid-19 under the age of 18.

SARS-CoV-2 has previously been shown to cause neurological problems in adult patients with delirium and stroke among the reported problems.

But there has been very little scientific research on the neurological implications of Covid-19 in children.

A total of 38 children who tested positive for the infection were evaluated in a study that was hospitalized in eight countries.

The cases were found after a global call for unusual cases of Covid in children was launched by the American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology.

Thirteen came from France, eight from the United Kingdom, five from the United States, four from Brazil, four from Argentina, two from India, one from Peru and one from Saudi Arabia.

Eight of the children did not have respiratory symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or coughing, as is usually associated with Covid-19.

Four children in the study died after contracting another infection, such as TB and MRSA, after Covid-19 made them more susceptible.

And two of the young people in the study were paralyzed after the virus reached the spinal cord and caused inflammation.

One of the children became tetrapllegic and relied on a ventilator for tracheostomy breathing. The baby is also fed a gastrostomy tube in the stomach.

The second child is also ventilator-dependent with a tracheostomy because they cannot breathe on their own and have a tube in their stomach to feed them.

This child also has dysautonomy, a condition that has left them unable to regulate their heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, bladder function and temperature, for example.

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