Perinatal COVID-19 infection: relation with maternal infection and clinical features of neonates

Abstract

Introduction and justification: Pregnant women and children seems to have the mild illness of COVID-19 or have similar symptoms as non-pregnant women. However there is limited data available about the possibility of vertical transmission and the evolution of neonates, whose mothers tested positive for COVID-19 in some point of the pregnancy, that test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the firsts hours of life. Thereby, we decided to do this study. Objective: To describe the clinical features and evolution of neonates who tested positive for COVID-19 in the first 48 hours of life and relate its clinical and laboratory characteristics with the presence and time interval of maternal infection by COVID-19 during pregnancy, severity of maternal disease, type of delivery, birth weight, gestational age, skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. Methods: This is a case-control study with 93 pairs of mothers who contracted COVID-19 during pregnancy and neonates (31 cases e 62 controls). Their medical records will be analyzed to fill out a questionnaire. Expected results: We expect to find possible associations between maternal COVID-19 infection and neonate's COVID-19 infection, besides possible relations between the infection and changes in the development and evolution of neonates. Expected difficulties: We expect to find difficulties in guaranteeing that the neonatal infection has occurred by vertical transmission, in addition to characterizing the changes that COVID-19 may have caused in neonates.