Amid the spurt in cases of novel coronavirus in different parts of the world, a new study which suggests that the contagious virus does not transmit from pregnant mothers to newborns seems to be bringing some sigh of relief. Chinese professors report in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics that it doesn't appear that the viral infection is transmittable from pregnant mothers to newborns at birth. The study is the second out of China within the last month to confirm that mothers infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during pregnancy did not infect their babies. All four mothers in the current study, which focused on the health of the newborns, gave birth at Wuhan's Union Hospital while infected. Wuhan in Hubei Province is believed to be the epicenter of the current outbreak that has sickened more than 100,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,400 -- most of them in China. None of the infants developed any serious symptoms associated with COVID-19 such as fever or cough, though all were initially isolated in neonatal intensive care units and fed formula. Three of the four tested negative for the respiratory infection following a throat swab, while the fourth child's mother declined permission for the test. Toward that end, the researchers are collecting additional samples from the newborns, including placenta, amniotic fluid, neonatal blood, and gastric fluid, among others, to detect possible receptors for the virus.
