Higher viral RNA detection in placenta biopsies than maternal serum in a term infant born to a mother with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. The neonatal population is thought to have a low incidence and severity of the disease, but maternal-to-fetus transmission has not been well studied. We present a term infant born to a mother with mild symptoms of laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection seven days prior to cesarean delivery. Four placental biopsies tested by RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 were positive, while a nasopharyngeal swab and rectal swab were negative. The infant was not symptomatic. No anti-SARS-CoV-2 maternal antibodies were detected in the infant’s sera through the 28th postnatal day.