An Israeli hospital said on Saturday that a stillborn fetus of a woman infected with the coronavirus also carried the virus. It was the second case reported in Israel.
The hospital said it is currently unable to associate the virus with death itself.
The woman, infected with COVID-19, was in her 36th week of pregnancy when she arrived at the hospital on the weekend after feeling ill, according to Hebrew media.
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Doctors at the Meir Medical Center found that the fetus had died in the womb and a subsequent laboratory test revealed that the fetus was also infected with the virus.
Illustrative: A doctor from the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba preparing to enter the COVID-19 infirmary. (courtesy of Meir Medical Center)
Last week, a similar case was reported when the fetus of a 29-year-old woman, in her 25th week of pregnancy, was diagnosed with the virus in tests after a stillbirth.
In the case of last week, the hospital said there was a high probability that the fetus died from complications of COVID-19.
“The fetus was infected with the placenta and with a high degree of certainty, [we can say] died of the coronavirus, ”said Dr. Tal Brosh, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, to the Ynet news website.
Dr. Yossi Tobin, director of the hospital’s maternity hospital, agreed that since the fetus was infected in the womb, death was likely to be caused by the coronavirus.
“It was an intrauterine infection of the fetus, which can cause placental infection and death,” said Tobin. “It is a rare occurrence because the baby usually becomes infected with the coronavirus after birth, as a result of contact with the mother. The fact that we were able to discover that they were already positive in the womb indicates a high probability that [the fetus] died as a result of coronavirus. ”
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a Maccabi Healthcare Services vaccination center in Modiin on December 24, 2020. (Yossi Aloni / Flash90)
The Ministry of Health advised pregnant women to get the coronavirus vaccine after several pregnant women became seriously ill, with several babies born prematurely by caesarean section due to the fatal risks to mothers and children.
Some of the women are suspected of being infected with the so-called British strain of coronavirus, a mutant strain that is believed to be more infectious and deadly.
The United States Centers for Disease Control also said that pregnant women should be allowed to receive the vaccine, noting that they are at an increased risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
“People who are pregnant and are part of a group recommended to receive the COVID-19 vaccine can opt for vaccination,” the agency said in a statement.