8-Day-Old Preterm Baby Tested Positive For COVID-19, Survives 1-Month Battle

A one-month-old baby previously diagnosed with COVID-19 has fully recovered from the disease and has been discharged.

The baby contracted the virus eight days after birth earlier in April. Doctors at the KIMS Cuddles Hospital in Hyderabad, India, have now discharged the infant, considered to be "one of the youngest survivors of COVID-19."

The baby was born pre-term on April 17 at 28 weeks, after the mother suffered from severe COVID-19 and was put on mechanical ventilator support. The newborn weighed 1,000 grams at the time of birth and initially received treatment for respiratory distress related to prematurity.

The infant’s initial test for coronavirus came out negative. However, the baby’s oxygen levels began falling on April 25, forcing doctors to put the little one on ventilation. Another screening swab revealed that the baby was infected with COVID-19, according to The News Minute.

A team of doctors admitted the baby, who then weighed only 920 grams, to COVID-19 isolation ICU.

"The newborn was nursed by our team of doctors and nurses in personal protective equipment in a specialized isolation neonatal ICU and provided ventilatory support, intravenous antibiotics, and nutrition. The neonate was monitored with multipara monitors showing a real-time display of its vitals such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation etc. The ventilator support was weaned to nasal ventilation and later to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). The newborn was managed with a combination of supportive care and steroids," Dr C. Aparna, Clinical Director of Neonatology and Senior Consultant Neonatology and Paediatrics, KIMS Cuddles, told the publication.

After another PCR test showed a negative result, the baby was placed in a warm room and given supportive care by the team of doctors. Supportive care included providing the child milk, kangaroo care, micronutrient supplementation, and thermal support.

The baby was discharged a month later, on May 17, weighing 1,500 grams.

Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including preeclampsia, or damage to another organ system, infections, and hospital admissions. In worse cases, the mother and child could die from the virus.

Babies born to mothers with coronavirus are also are at higher risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, a research study published in Jama Pediatrics in April showed.