Several studies suggested that it was possible for the fetus to contract Covid-19 if its mother was a carrier: this has just been proven. On July 14, a male baby was born in France with neurological symptoms caused by the disease, the study published in the medical journal Nature Communications.
This would have appeared during the last weeks of pregnancy, according to doctor Daniele De Luca, officiating at the Antoine-Béclère hospital in Clamart. In order to be able to affirm that there has indeed been transmission of Covid-19, he specifies the complex methodology of the examinations carried out on the mother and the child: “It is necessary analyze maternal blood, amniotic fluid, newborn blood, placenta,… Bringing together all these samples during an epidemic with emergencies in all directions was not easy, which is why it was suspected, but not demonstrated. “
Severe symptoms at birth
The strongest burden of the virus was in the placenta. Doctors were thus able to trace the route of transmission of the virus that would have followed this route: placenta, umbilical cord, baby, and would have developed in the latter. At birth, the child presented neurological symptoms in particular: lesions of the cerebral nervous system and rigidity in the limbs.
Having said that, the child is fine. He recovered on his own and the symptoms completely disappeared, the study said. If this example proves that it is possible that the fetus is contaminated, it remains rare, especially when it comes to developing severe symptoms.
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