Two stillborn babies in Israel from mothers infected with COVID-19 also tested positive for coronavirus – with at least one of the deaths attributed to the infection, according to a report.
A woman in her 36th week of pregnancy lost her unborn child at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba on Saturday after falling ill with COVID-19, the Times of Israel said.
Tests showed the fetus was also infected, but the hospital did not immediately blame the pandemic for death.
However, the probable cause of death was declared in an almost identical case last week, when a 29-year-old woman lost her child in the 25th week of pregnancy in Ashdod, the vehicle said.
“The fetus was infected with the placenta and with a high degree of certainty, [we can say] died due to the coronavirus, ”Dr. Tal Brosh, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Hospital Assuta, told Ynet news.
It was the first such case reported in Israel, although others have already been noted in Brazil, the report said.
“This is a rare occurrence because a baby is usually infected with coronavirus after birth as a result of contact with the mother,” said Dr. Yossi Tobin, director of the hospital’s maternity hospital.
“The fact that we were able to find out that they were already positive in the womb indicates a high probability that [the fetus] died as a result of coronavirus. “
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated, but listing primarily the health hazards of the mother, rather than her unborn children.
“Pregnant women with COVID-19 may be at greater risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as premature birth,” warned the CDC.