Clinical features of neonatal COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 (SARS-Cov-2) pandemic has put a strain on healthcare systems around the world from December 2019 in China, and then rapidly spreading worldwide. The impact of the virus on the entire population and its differential effect on various age groups was unknown at the outset, specifically its severity in elders, children or those living with other comorbidities, thus defining the syndemic, rather than pandemic, character of the infection. The effort of clinicians was initially to organize differential paths to isolate cases or contacts. This impacted the maternal-neonatal care adding an additional burden to this dyad and raising several questions. Can SARS-Cov-2 infection in the first days of life put the health of the newborn at risk? Could the separation of a healthy newborn from an infected mother create further physical and psychological health problems in the dyad? The rapid and massive research effort in these three years of the pandemic has provided wide answers to these initial questions. In this review, we report epidemiological data, clinical features, complications, and management of the neonates affected by SARS-Cov-2 infection.

Fig. 1

Patterns of transmission and manifestations of neonatal COVID-19 infection. Some features such as cardiac dysfunction and hypoperfusion are more common with early-onset and fever is more common with late-onset infections. Modified from Sankaran et al. Neoreviews (2021) 22 (5): e284–e295 [35] Copyright Satyan Lakshminrusimha.

Fig. 2

Incidence of various clinical manifestations and laboratory findings in neonates with COVID-19.