Scientists Have Found Signs Of Intrauterine Infection Of Children With Coronavirus

Scientists have found signs of intrauterine infection of children with coronavirus

The possibility of intrauterine infection with a new coronavirus cannot be ruled out, scientists say. The prestigious medical journal JAMA published three studies in one day that investigated the transmission of COVID-19 from a pregnant woman to her fetus.

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The possibility of intrauterine infection with a new coronavirus cannot be ruled out, scientists say. The prestigious medical journal JAMA published three studies in one day that investigated the transmission of COVID-19 from a pregnant woman to her fetus.

First study. Intrauterine infection?

Scientists from Wuhan University's Renmin Hospital talked about a child who was given birth to by a woman who was treated for COVID-19 a few weeks before the baby was born. The child (girl) was born by cesarean section. At that time, the mother was wearing an N95 respirator, she did not hold the child in her arms. The child was quarantined and showed no symptoms.

Two hours after giving birth, scientists took tests from the baby and found two types of antibodies to the new coronavirus - immunoglobulins M (IgM) and G (IgG). Immunoglobulins G provide long-term protection against infection, and the baby can get them from the mother. Immunoglobulins M are produced as an acute reaction to infection. They are considered too large to cross the placenta and be passed from mother to child. Therefore, scientists had reasons to assume that these antibodies were developed by the fetus itself after direct contact with the virus.

The child also had an increased level of cytokines (mediators of the immune system) and white blood cells, which may be a sign of a previous infection. But since the coronavirus itself was not detected in the child, this case does not give an exact answer whether intrauterine infection is possible.

Second research. Damage to the placenta?

The second report describes antibody tests in six newborns who were born to mothers with coronavirus pneumonia at Wuhan University's Zhongnan Hospital. Five of the examined children had a high level of IgG against the new coronavirus, and in two, IgM, as in the case described above. The virus itself has not been found in any child.

Scientists put forward another hypothesis for the appearance of these antibodies in the blood of children. There is a possibility that the mothers placenta was damaged or had some abnormality that could allow IgM to pass through it.

Importantly, IgM tests are usually not used to diagnose infections in newborns and can also give false positive results. This increases the doubts of scientists as to whether there was intrauterine transmission of the virus in the cases they described.

Scientists at the University of Alabama in an editorial in JAMA noted that intrauterine transmission of the virus cannot be ruled out, since it can enter the bloodstream. While it cannot be said unequivocally that these two studies describe cases of intrauterine infection, pregnant women infected with COVID should be advised that the risk of contracting the baby cannot be ruled out.

Third study. Infection after birth?

The third case study was published in JAMA Pediatrics. It showed that out of 33 children born to mothers with COVID-19, three were infected. But the sick children did not shed the virus (tests were negative) during the first two days of life. This indicates the likelihood of infection after birth.

A small study published by the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics did not confirm intrauterine transmission of coronavirus.

Earlier this month, a newborn in London was diagnosed with the virus minutes after birth. But it was not possible to find out the circumstances of the infection.