Infants diagnosed with COVID may only exhibit mild to no symptoms: Study

Infants younger than 90 days, who have been tested positive for COVID will only have mild to no symptoms, revealed a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. While the deadly Coronavirus is said to have a harder impact on older age groups, especially those with co-morbidities, several cases of babies and infants contracting the virus have proved that they are not immune to the virus either. However, babies tested positive for COVID only display mild fever as a primary symptom of the novel disease. The main symptoms pertaining to the respiratory disease are not seen in babies as per the study. 

While there is limited data on infants with Covid-19 from the US, our findings suggest that these babies mostly have mild illness and may not be at higher risk of severe disease as initially reported from China," said the study’s lead author Leena Mithal, who hails from the Northwestern University in the US. 

She added that most of the infants who were tested for COVID were mainly evaluated because of their initial symptoms of fever after which they were found to be COVID positive remarking that evaluation for bacterial infection in young infants with fever remains important, especially in areas where there is community transmission of infection. 

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Details of the study

The study is based on a research of 18 COVID positive infants, who were assessed to understand the patterns of the novel virus in a baby's body. As per the study, 50 per cent of these infants who were admitted to the hospital did not even require oxygen, respiratory support, or intensive care.

According to the lead author of the study, it remains unclear whether young infants with fever who have been tested positive for COVID-19 require hospital admission at all.  “The decision to admit to the hospital is based on age, need for preemptive treatment of bacterial infection, clinical assessment, feeding tolerance, and adequacy of follow-up," said Leena Mithal. 

The study added that while these findings are limited, they suggest that babies diagnosed with COVID may generally be in a lesser-risk category than imagined and may only exhibit milder symptoms.  

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