A baby has been born with Covid-19 antibodies - in what US doctors say is a world first

The event has been described as a "world first" (Photo: Shutterstock)The event has been described as a "world first" (Photo: Shutterstock)
The event has been described as a "world first" (Photo: Shutterstock)

Two American paediatricians have claimed that a woman has given birth to the first known baby with Covid-19 antibodies.

The woman, situated in south Florida, is a frontline healthcare worker and had received one dose of the Moderna vaccine in January, whilst she was 36 week pregnant. She then gave birth three weeks later.

Dr Paul Gilbert and Dr Chad Rudnick claim that the woman has given birth to a baby with Covid-19 antibodies “after maternal vaccination”.

‘Newborn protection to be expected’

The two doctors published their article with the claim on medRxiv, a preprint server for health sciences.

The article explains that maternal vaccination for the flu and other bacterial diseases has been “well studied in terms of safety and efficacy for protection of the newborn by placental passage of antibodies”.

It goes on to say that “similar newborn protection would be expected after maternal vaccination against SARS-CoV-2”.

The doctors write that the woman gave birth to a “vigorous, healthy, full term female” and that “cord blood antibodies were detected to the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2 at time of delivery”.

The conclusion of the still to be peer reviewed article states that Gilbert and Rudnick “report the first known case of an infant with SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies detectable in cord blood after maternal vaccination”.

‘Urgent need for research’

Gilbert and Rudnick say that there is “significant and urgent need for research regarding safety and efficacy of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy”.

Speaking to ABC, Rudnick said: “This is one small case in what will be thousands and thousands of babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated of the next several months.

“Further studies have to determine how long will this protection last. They have to determine at what level of protection or how many antibodies does a baby need to have circulating in order to give them protection.”

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