Babies in Singapore can be born with Covid antibodies

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On Monday (30/11), the Singapore mass media reported on a baby born with COVID-19 antibodies. This baby was born to a mother infected with COVID-19 during the second trimester of pregnancy and recovered before the baby was born.

Why does this baby also have antibodies to COVID-19? Is COVID-19 transmitted vertically from mother to fetus?

How can this baby be born with antibodies to COVID-19?

Celine Ng-Chan tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home on vacation from Europe with her family. As reported by the mass media Singapore Strait Times , Chan's pregnancy was marked by dramatic events.

In early 2019, Chan with her husband, one daughter, and her parents planned to tour several cities in Europe. At that time, there were still two stops left when the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Chan felt it would be unwise for him and his family to still want to continue the holiday period in a state of plague. Finally, this family decided to return to Singapore on March 21.

On arrival in Singapore, Chan developed a very disturbing sore throat. She, who was 10 weeks pregnant at the time, tested positive for COVID-19.

Chan spent 3 weeks of pregnancy in isolation National University Hospital . Luckily Chan only experienced mild symptoms and tested negative for COVID-19 with an undisturbed womb.

"I am not worried that Aldrin (the baby) will catch COVID-19 because I read that the risk of transmission (from mother to fetus) is very small," Chan said as quoted by the Straits Times.

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The baby was born healthy with antibodies to COVID-19

In early November, Chan gave birth to the baby safely. The baby boy, named Aldrin, tested negative for COVID-19 and has immunity against infection with the virus.

Even though the mother who recovered from COVID-19 since April has no antibodies, according to Chan, this is somewhat surprising when her baby has antibodies to COVID-19.

Doctors suspect that the mother's body naturally transfers all of its antibodies to the baby. "I feel relieved that my Covid-19 journey is finally over now," he said.

Is COVID-19 transmitted vertically from mother to fetus?

Chan is not the only pregnant woman who has managed to recover from COVID-19 and gave birth to a baby with COVID-19 antibodies. Previously, several similar cases also occurred in Singapore. The first recorded case was Natasha Ling, who gave birth on April 26, 2020.

There have been several cases of pregnant women who have been reported to be infected with COVID-19, until now the world health organization (WHO) has said it is not yet sure whether pregnant women with COVID-19 can transmit to their fetuses vertically.

The study, published in the journal Nature, said vertical transmission from mother to fetus was possible, although unlikely. In this study the researchers conducted a study on 31 pregnant women who were infected with COVID-19. As a result, there were 3 cases of mother-to-fetus transmission that occurred vertically or directly in the uterus.

Researchers detected the SARS-CoV-2 virus in one umbilical cord blood, one vaginal mucosa, and one milk specimen.

“In the three documented cases of vertical transmission, this SARS-CoV-2 infection was accompanied by a strong inflammatory response. These data support the hypothesis that vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the uterus, even if it is low, is possible, ”wrote the report published on (12/10).

COVID-19 requires receptor molecules as the entrance for the virus to infect a person's body. A previous study showed that the placenta contains very few viral receptor molecules, so there may not be enough to accept or become a viral receptor.

These findings may explain why mother-to-fetus transmission of the virus is rare. Even so, this small possibility should still be watched out for.