Early Research Suggests Coronavirus Not Transmitted From Mother To Fetus - Scientists

Preliminary research conducted by Chinese scientists suggests that the new coronavirus, presumably, can not be transmitted from an infected mother to her unborn baby, a study published in The Lancet journal said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) Preliminary research conducted by Chinese scientists suggests that the new coronavirus, presumably, can not be transmitted from an infected mother to her unborn baby, a study published in The Lancet journal said.

The scientists studied the cases of nine pregnant women infected with the new coronavirus, officially named COVID-19. All of them gave birth to healthy children who had no traces of the virus.

"We found no evidence for vertical transmission in late pregnancy. Considering the significance of this ongoing global public health emergency, although our conclusions are limited by the small sample size, we believe that the findings reported here are important for understanding the clinical characteristics and vertical transmission potential of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women," the study said.

At the same time, the study recognized that too few cases had been studied in a short period of time, and that further research should be done.

On February 5, a local children's hospital in Wuhan said that two newborns had COVID-19. Both mothers had also tested positive for the virus.

The current death toll from the virus exceeds 1,350 with some 60,000 people being infected worldwide. The virus has spread to more than 20 countries since it was first detected in Wuhan in late December.