Newborn COVID 19 Carriers: Experience from the Marrakech Neonatal Reanimation Department

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world. Given the high rate of increased infection, the number of pregnant women and children affected by COVID-19 is consequently on the rise. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by droplets; other routes of transmission, although hypothesized, have not been confirmed. For the moment, it remains unclear whether and how SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted from mother to fetus. Objective: to report on the experience of the neonatal intensive care unit in the management of covid 19-carrying newborns, and to provide documented information on mother-to-child transmission. This retrospective study examined the medical records of 22 newborns born to women with SARS-CoV-2 at university hopital Momamed VI in Marrakech. Of the 22 newborns, 9 had positive PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2; among their mothers, 15 had fever, seven had cough and 17 had given birth by caesarean section. The median term of birth was 37 weeks’ amenorrhea. Fifteen of the newborns were male. Most were asymptomatic. The evolution was marked in 2 newborns by worsening respiratory distress requiring intubation and sedation in one, with worsening and death in the setting of severe sepsis in the first and the second due to more than 30% involvement on chest CT with persistent signs of respiratory struggle. The rest of the patients progressed well under treatment, with no complications. Conclusion: Maternal-fetal transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected in the majority of reported cases, except in one neonate, although 9 of the 22 neonates tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. Our study supports the hypothesis that, although it rarely occurs, in utero vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is possible.