Surat: Probably the youngest-ever Covid-19 patient, a 12-day-old infant girl has been waging a war against the dreaded coronavirus since the fifth day of her birth. Doctors suspect that the infection developed two critical stages in the infant in just one day after she probably caught the infected from her mother.
A 30-year-old woman from Amroli area was admitted in the Diamond Hospital for delivery on April 1 and on the same day she delivered the baby girl through natural delivery.
“The infant had unstable breathing, or respiratory distress syndrome, at the time of birth. It is normal and generally observed in many children. For treatment she was admitted, while the mother was discharged,” said Dr Alpesh Singhvi, a peadiatrician at the hospital.
Under observation, the infant was given formula feed and not her mother’s milk till April 5.
“On April 5, when the baby’s condition improved, we called the mother for feeding. On April 6, however, she developed breathing problems and hence we got an x-ray done,” said Sindhvi.
“The lungs were clear on April 6, but on the next day the x-ray showed a large white area showing spread of infection,” Singhvi added.
Later, an antigen test conducted in the infant tested positive. “She has been put on a ventilator since then and has been given remdesivir injection. We are planning for plasma treatment as well,” said Dr Haresh Paghda, administrator of Diamond Hospital. The hospital is treating the infant for free under Balsakha, a relief scheme by the government.