Study Finds Most Newborns Infected With SARS-CoV-2 Were Asymptomatic or Had Mild Illness

A study of more than 1 million neonatal encounters has found that most newborn babies infected with SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic or developed mild illness without the need for respiratory support. Some neonates had severe illness requiring treatment for COVID-19 with remdesivir and COVID-19 convalescent plasma. The study, “Epidemiology of Neonatal COVID-19 in the United States,” pre-published online, will appear in the October 2022 issue of Pediatrics. Researchers analyzed more than 1 million neonatal encounters in a large U.S. multi-center database to identify the incidence rate, distribution, characteristics, and outcomes of neonatal COVID-19. The data on the neonates was extracted between March 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021. The researchers found 91.1 neonatal COVID-19 cases per 100,000 hospital encounters. Most neonates were asymptomatic or developed mild illness without need for respiratory support. SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates, though rare, may result in severe disease, the authors conclude.

[The study was pre-published Aug. 23 and is available here. To request an interview with an author, contact Louis Ehwerhemuepha, Children’s Health of Orange County, Orange, California, at lehwerhemuepha@choc.org.]

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.