3-Week-Old Infant with Severe Case of COVID-19 Successfully Treated by Health Experts

Medical doctors from McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) reported that a three-week-old infant survived a severe COVID-19 after timely intervention from the medical team.  The case was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 22. 

This case also debunked the original belief that babies are spared from COVID-19. 

Alvaro Coronado Munoz, a medical doctor and assistant professor of pediatric critical care medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth warned that children can get critically ill from the COVID-19 virus. "It's important for parents to understand that they should not delay seeking care for their children if there's any presence of fever or trouble breathing," added Coronado.

The 3-week-old patient was admitted at a local hospital with nasal congestion, rapid breathing, and decreased appetite. The temperature was recorded at 97.0 degrees with a high pulse rate and low oxygen saturation. The baby also had low blood pressure and hypothermia, rapid heart rate, and breathing. This alerted Coronado and his medical team, and the child was immediately transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. Lung X-rays revealed that the baby also has pneumonia. 

At the time of admission, test results from nasal swab are expected after a week. However, the physicians did not wait for the result before taking the COVID-19 action plan for the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

According to Coronado, their team was called to admit the baby in PICU. After they saw the X-ray, they were already suspicious that it could be the coronavirus.

"We took early precautions to protect our team and avoid the spread of health care providers," the doctor added. 

As a precaution that this case may be COVID-19, the infant was transferred to a negative-pressure room in the PICU and was intubated and placed on a mechanical ventilator for five days. The standard PICU protocol, the article noted, calls for non-invasive mechanical ventilation. Doctors chose to intubate earlier however, as the patient was in severe respiratory failure and COVID-19 was suspected. The patient was also given a five-day course of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.

Protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as avoiding aerosolized treatment and providing safe intubation intervention measures sooner than the usual were adapted by the PICU, Coronado said. 

After day five, the medical team reported that the patient was discharged from PICU. On the ninth day, the baby has recovered, the supplemental oxygen was taken off the baby and was sent home. 

Coronado said that this case may be limited to one single patient but it demonstrates that children can have severe COVID-19 cases, although it can also be successfully managed.

More cases of babies recovering from COVID-19 

In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that a 16-day old baby survived COVID-19. "Our frontliners at the National Children's Hospital tirelessly took care of the neonate for 11 days and successfully nursed him back to health," the DOH posted on its official Twitter page. The health department also reported that 25 babies tested positive for COVID-19 in the country. DOH spokesperson Rosario Vergeire reported in a virtual press conference that two of these infants have died, "possibly due to their immature immune system."

In Izmir, Turkey,  Syrian baby Aziz has recovered from COVID-19 after a month of treatment. Baby Aziz was taken in an intensive care unit for newborns five days after birth as he had difficulty breathing. A tube was inserted into his stomach for medical treatment. The baby responded well to the treatment and was discharged from the hospital after a month of treatment.