COVID-19 Infection in Iranian Newborns and their Mothers: a Case Series

The symptoms, severity, and prognosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are surprisingly different in neonates versus adults or even children. Currently, there are few studies on neonatal and maternal COVID-19 with limited populations.

In this study, we present 13 Iranian symptomatic newborns with a positive nasopharyngeal COVID-19 test and their maternal data on COVID-19. All neonates were admitted to the hospital at the first day of life, mostly having symptoms at birth, except three cases that had symptoms at days 2, 11, and 22. Almost all cases had respiratory distress and were tachypneic, which needed respiratory support. Although most cases were discharged after recovery, two patients died at days 12 and 48.

Neonatal COVID-19 cases mostly had respiratory symptoms and subsequent radiographic features of a viral pneumonia; thus, they had an effective response to oxygen therapy. The symptoms were by far less severe in newborns, although we lost two cases to this infection. This highlights the necessity for good COVID-19 prognosis in infants and neonates.