Infected mothers may transmit coronavirus to their newborns scientists says

Scientists in Paris said that there is a strong evidence that coronavirus positive mothers can pass the virus to their unborn child. The findings show that it is the strongest link of transmission yet between a mother and an infant.

Photo credit: livescience.com

Researchers in Italy studied 31 pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19 and found the virus in an at-term placenta, umbilical cord, the vagina of one woman and in breast milk. Also, they identified specific COVID-19 antibodies in the umbilical cords of several pregnant women as well as in milk specimens.

The findings strongly suggest that in-vitro transmission is possible according to Claudio Fenizia from the University of Milan and lead study author.

"Given the number of infected people worldwide, the number of women that could be affected by this could be potentially very high," he added. 

Fenizia emphasized that none of the infants born during the study period tested positive for COVID-19. "Although in utero transmission seems to be possible, it is too early to clearly assess the risk and potential consequences," he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last month that new mothers infected with COVID-19 should continue breastfeeding. And WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said that children are at relatively low-risk of COVID-19, but are at high risk of numerous other diseases and conditions that breastfeeding prevents.

Among other findings, the team identified a specific inflammatory response triggered by COVID-19 in the women's placenta and umbilical cord blood plasma. 

The women studied were all in their third trimester and more research is currently underway among COVID-19-positive women in the early stages of pregnancy. 

"Our study is aimed at raising awareness and inviting the scientific community to consider the pregnancy in positive women as an urgent topic to further characterize and dissect," Fenizia said. 

He believes that promoting prevention is the safer advice that they could possibly give for the patients.