High time for Cord blood sampling, amniotic fluid sampling, placental tissue sampling of pregnant women must, if virus transmits to new born in womb, then it’s a disaster: Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan
Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar: A five-day-old baby from village Chadder in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district is the youngest victim of Covid-19 in Jammu and Kashmir.
They said that a new born five-day old baby girl tested positive at Chest Diseases hospital a few days after her mother was tested positive for the deadly pandemic.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Qaimoh, Kulgam, Dr Abdul Gani told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that that they were taken by an utter surprise to see that the new born baby has tested positive for the virus. “Both, mother and the baby are asymptomatic and are undergoing treatment at Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag,” he said.
The doctor said that the frequent visits of pregnant ladies to hospitals and clinics are making them more vulnerable to Covid-19 and as seen today, new born babies are also getting affected now, which is a cause of worry. Pertinently, few days ago, a 20-day-old baby from Satwari area of Jammu had tested positive.
Official figures suggest that there are around 20 percent of Covid-19 positive patients in J&K who are between the age group of 0-19. However, none from in this age group has died here so far.
Noted virologist and Associate Professor Medicine GMC Srinagar, Dr Nisarul Hassan said that as of there is no convincing evidence whether the baby transmits the virus within the womb of his/her mother.
“It seems that new born transmits the virus soon after the birth while behind handled by the COVID infectant mother. The virus gets transmitted during handled within 24 to 48 hours. Second, to find out whether the baby transmits the virus within mother’s womb, there is a need to test the placental tissue, Cord sampling or amniotic fluid sampling of the COVID positive mother. If maternal foetus transmission is proved, then that’s a disaster, that’s a disaster then,” Dr Nisar said.
He, however, said mother’s milk doesn’t carry virus for the new born. “But pregnant ladies need not to worry as in literature, there is no evidence of maternal fatal transmission. As for the virus in infants, so far it has behaved very mildly”— (KNO)
