Seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in babies born to COVID positive or suspected mothers and their outcome

Background & Objective: COVID-19 infection has been the most researched topic since its emergence in 2019. Little is known about the vertical transmission of this disease and its effects on the babies of the infected mothers in our country. We evaluated the antibody titers of babies born to COVID-19 positive or suspected COVID mothers and observed the immediate and short-term outcome of such babies. We share our experience of 43 babies born to known or suspected COVID positive mothers in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in the departments of gynecology/obstetrics and the pediatrics of Memon Medical Institute Hospital, Karachi. Cases delivered during December 2020 till May 2021 were included in this study. Mothers known or suspected COVID positive were included and their newborn babies were screened for antibody titer. Babies were followed up for any sign of the disease for six months.Results: Out of a total of 547 deliveries conducted in our hospital during the study period, PCR test was performed amongst 43 suspected mothers and 41 (95.34%) came out to be positive on PCR, while two mothers had antibodies in their blood, so were included in the study. The antibody titer was positive in 17 (39.53%) of babies of all PCR positive mothers, and 41.46% of the babies of all confirmed COVID positive mothers.Conclusion: The results of our study conclude that the babies of a fair proportion of all the COVID affected women exhibited a good antibody response, and no disease manifestation was noticed in them for six months after birth.