Pune: Country’s first case of vertical transmission of COVID-19 from mother to foetus reported

Shikha Chaurasia

Pune, 28 July 2020: The first case of transplacental transmission of SARS-COV-2 from a pregnant woman to her foetus was reported from BJ Medical College (BJMC) and Sassoon General Hospital in Pune. This is the first case of vertical transmission of COVID-19 in the country. The 22-year-old woman is from Hadapsar.

There is still no evidence on exactly how SARS-COV-2 spreads from the mother to the foetus. However, a few cases have been documented in some international journals about the vertical transmission of COVID-19. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said in April that there is some sort of emerging evidence on how a pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her unborn baby. The ICMR has also issued guidelines on management and treatment of pregnant COVID-19 positive women.

Dean of BJMC and Sassoon General Hospital Dr Murlidhar Tambe said that this is the first-ever reported case of vertical transmission in the country. The baby girl had developed a severe stage of the disease and had required Intensive Care. However, she recovered completely in three weeks and was discharged in June.”

According to Dr Aarti Kinikar, Professor and head of department at the BJMC and Sassoon General Hospital said that one day before her delivery she had fever. We got her tested through the RT-PCR test but she tested negative for the virus but when an antibody test was carried out, she was found to be COVID positive.”

After she gave birth, the nasopharyngeal swab of the baby, placenta and umbilical stump were found to be COVID-19 positive via RT-PCR test. She said the mother had contracted the infection earlier but was asymptomatic.