Chennai: A neonate delivered by c-section was admitted to Dr Mehta’s Hospitals, Chennai at two hours of its life with respiratory distress recently.
The male baby tested positive for the Covid-19 and doctors said it was a very rare incident of transplacental SARS COV-2 infection with the fetal hyper-inflammatory syndrome.
The baby got infected by the mother in utero, but the mother was unaware of her infection as she was asymptomatic.
The baby went through a turbulent phase with 80-90 per cent lung involvement in the CT chest.
Dr Arun Krishnan B, consultant-neonatologist, treated the newborn baby. The infant was started on non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (CPAP), received two doses of surfactant at two hours and eight hours of life.
The baby was on mechanical ventilation for five days and then about three days in a high flow nasal cannula. The baby was then observed for three days in room air with full oral feeds.
The neonate recovered and was discharged home after 11 days of hospitalisation with oral steroids and blood thinners.