Abstract:
Abstract
Current evidence suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused
by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), is predominantly
transmitted from human‐to‐human. However, evidence on vertical transmission
and natural passive immunity among the newborns exposed to COVID‐19 is
scanty and varies. This poses a challenge on preventive interventions for the
newborns. We conducted a systematic review to first, determine the likelihood
of vertical transmission among COVID‐19 exposed infants and second, determine
whether antibodies against SARS‐CoV‐2 were generated among
COVID‐19 vertically exposed but negative infants. This review registered in
PROSPERO searched evidence from PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar,
among others. About 517 studies were pooled, where 33 articles (5.8%) met the
inclusion criteria such as infection prevention and control measures at birth. A
total of 205 infants born to COVID‐19 positive mothers were studied. Overall,
6.3% (13/205; 95% CI: 3.0%–9.7%) of the infants tested positive for COVID‐19
virus at birth. Of 33 eligible studies, six studies (18.8%) reported about immunoglobulin
G/M (IgG/IgM) against SARS‐CoV‐2. IgG/IgM were detected in
90% infants (10/11; 95% CI: 73.9%–107.9%) who tested negative for COVID‐
19 virus. The median antibody levels detected were 75.49 AU/ml (range,
7.25–140.32 AU/ml) and 3.79 AU/ml (range, 0.16–45.83 AU/ml), p = .0041 for
IgG and IgM, respectively. In conclusion, the current evidence revealed a low
possibility of vertical transmission of COVID‐19 and antibodies against SARSCoV‐
2 were detected among vertically exposed but negative infants. Further
studies on transplacental transmission and the magnitude of natural passive
immunity in infants born to mothers with COVID‐19 are warranted.
