Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates born to mothers or relatives with COVID-19

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, in Wuhan, China, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was emerged due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It seems that children and neonates, similar to adult and elderly individuals, are at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, adequate data are not available about neonates infected with SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: This study evaluated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates born to mothers or relatives with COVID-19. This cross-sectional study was performed on 25,044 consecutive Iranian participants in Tehran, Iran, from January 2020 to August 2020. Viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted from 500 µl of the oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal specimens of the participants. The genomic RNA of SARS-CoV-2 was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. RESULTS: Out of all participants, 98 (0.40%) cases were neonates born to mothers or relatives with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, the current study was performed on these neonates. Out of 98 studied neonates, 6 (6.1%) cases had positive PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, among 98 studied neonates’ mothers, 25 (25.5%) cases had positive PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrated that the rate of COVID-19 in neonates born to mothers or relatives with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Iranian population is about 6.1%.