Two stillborn babies in Israel from mothers infected with COVID-19 have also tested positive for the coronavirus — with at least one of the deaths blamed on the contagion, according to a report.
A woman in her 36th week of pregnancy lost her unborn child at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba Saturday after falling sick with COVID-19, the Times of Israel said.
Tests showed that the fetus was also infected, but the hospital did not immediately blame the pandemic for the death.
However, it was declared the likely cause of death 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 outlet said.
“The fetus was infected through the placenta and with a very high degree of certainty, [we can say] died due to coronavirus,” Dr. Tal Brosh, head of the Infectious Disease Department at the Assuta Hospital, told Ynet news.
It was the first case of its kind reported in Israel, although others have previously 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, the director of the maternity ward at the 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 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that pregnant women get vaccinated, but mostly listing health dangers to the mother rather than their unborn children.
“Pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth,” the CDC warned.
