Clinical epidemiological characterization in newborns of mothers with COVID-19 in a hospital in the Peruvian highlands

Abstract

objective. To describe the clinical epidemiological characteristics of newborns born to mothers with COVID-19 during 2020-2021. Methods. The study was observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional. The clinical histories and laboratory tests of 128 cases of mothers and 128 cases of neonates were reviewed, the assessment sheet of the clinical-epidemiological characteristics was applied. Results. There was a predominance of full-term newborns (60.9%), birth weight equal to or greater than 2500 g (78.1%), with Apgar scores equal to or greater than 7 both at one minute (90.6%) and at five minutes (95.3%), hospitalized (42.2%) and rooming-in (54.7%). All neonates underwent the PCR-RT test for SARS-CoV-2 two hours after birth, finding positive cases (4.7%), the most frequent symptom being diarrhea (10.2%), 95 .3% were asymptomatic. Regarding the clinical characteristics of the mothers, they were asymptomatic (93%), positive to the test for SARS-CoV-2 (84.4%). The most frequent obstetric complication was urinary tract infection (21.1%), and the most frequent type of delivery was eutocic (75.8%). Conclusions. In the investigation, 4.7% of the newborns presented a PCR-RT test with a positive result for SARS-CoV-2, 14.6% were newborns under 37 weeks of gestational age, 42.2% were hospitalized, and the most frequent complication was neonatal jaundice. Mothers with COVID-19 were asymptomatic in more than 95%. The most frequent maternal complication was UTI with 21.1%.