Abstract
Previous studies described the clinical features of Covid-19 in adults and infants under 1 year of age. Little is known about features, outcomes and intrauterine transmission potential in newborn babies aged 28 days or less. Through systematical searching, we identified 4 infections in newborn babies in China as of March 13. The age range was 30 h to 17 days old. Three were male. Two newborn babies had fever, 1 had shortness of breath, 1 had cough and 1 had no syndromes. Supportive treatment was provided for all 4 newborn babies. None required intensive unit care or mechanical ventilation. None had any severe complications. Three newborn babies recovered by the end of this study and had been discharged with 16, 23, and 30 days of hospital stay. All 4 mothers were infected by SARS-CoV-2, 3 showing symptoms before and 1 after delivery. Cesarean section was used for all 4 mothers, 3 at level III hospitals and 1 at a level II hospital. Three newborn babies were separated from mothers right after being born and were not breastfed. In summary, newborn babies are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The symptoms in newborn babies were milder and outcomes were less severe as compared to adults. Intrauterine vertical transmission is possible but direct evidence is still lacking.
Footnotes
Contribution: Z.Z-J concepted the study and drafted the manuscript; Z.Z-J collected data, Y.X-J, F.T.,L.Y, J.Y., Y.B.X., B.Y. edited the manuscript.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Zhang has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Yu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Fu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Liu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Jiang has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Yang has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Bi has nothing to disclose.
- Received March 1, 2020.
- Accepted March 26, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020
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