Woman from Singapore gives birth to baby with COVID-19 antibodies
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Dec 2, 2020
A baby was reported to have been born with COVID-19 antibodies in Singapore last month.
"It's very interesting. His pediatrician said my COVID-19 antibodies are gone but Aldrin has COVID-19 antibodies", Ng-Chan said, according to the outlet.
"My doctor suspects I have transferred my COVID-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy", Celine Ng-Chan told the paper. However, transmission of the virus from mothers to their newborns is rare. But another recent study adds to the growing body of evidence that children may be acting as silent spreaders of COVID-19.
Ng-Chan narrated in the video of the said interview that her doctor asked her a few weeks before delivery if she wanted to be "part of the pregnant moms and babies research" to which she oblidged.
This has offered a clue to the scientists of whether the Covid-19 infection can be transferred from mother to child. But probably even less on that of antibodies.
As for the transmission of the virus, the World Health Organization has so far not clearly decided the question. Back then, in March, even less was known about how the coronavirus affected pregnant women and their future children.
Such was the case of the newborn who tested positive for COVID-19 in London earlier in the year.
A Singaporean woman who was infected with coronavirus in March during her pregnancy period has now given birth to a baby with coronavirus antibodies.
The active virus has not been found in samples of fluid around the baby in the womb or in breast milk till date. The three other stages would be progressive and target people with comorbidity and other professionals exposed to the virus. Results which remain hard to use given the small size of the sample.
"It is still unknown whether the presence of these antibodies in a newborn baby confers a degree of protection against COVID-19 infection, much less the duration of protection", Tan Hak Koon, chairman of the Obstetrics and Gynecology division at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, told Reuters. The rules to be observed remain the same for everyone, namely respect for hygiene rules and social distancing.
