COVID-19 virus and clinical outcome on the newborns at the Neonatal Department of Intensive Medicine in Bratislava, Slovakia.

AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the group of newborns who were admitted at Neonatal Department of Intensive Medicine in Bratislava Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava and National Institute of Children´s Diseases in the period from 08.01.2021 until 07.07.2023 who were affected by the COVID-19 virus from mother before birth, from staff or in family or were only in contact with COVID-19 positive person.

RESULTS: Most common symptoms in newborns within our findings included fever, upper respiratory symptoms, and diarrhoea. Detailed analysis of prenatal and postnatal characteristics, clinical findings are presented in tables 1-3.

CONCLUSION: COVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on the pregnant women as well as on prenatal and postnatal development of the child. Our results reveal that the severity of symptoms in COVID-19 infected newborns from our sample was low. It is important to implement adequate neonatal practices for early detection of illnesses, especially in relation to COVID-19 which will subsequently allow early intervention and reduce neonatal mortality. Future challenges for all countries include the implementation of higher hygiene standards, prevention of spreading, more sensitive tests to use in the first day of life (Tab. 3, Ref. 36).