A baby in China's epidemic-hit Wuhan city has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus just 30 hours after being born, Chinese state media reported Wednesday, reports AFP.
The infant is the youngest person recorded as being infected by the virus, which has killed nearly 500 people since emerging late last year.
Pregnant women infected with the new coronavirus may be able to pass it to their unborn children, doctors at the Wuhan Children Hospital said on Wednesday, reported Reuters citing state broadcaster CCTV.
The doctors said it was possible after an infected coronavirus patient gave birth to a baby on February 2. The newborn was given a test 30 hours later and confirmed to have the virus, the doctors said.
The newborn has stable vital signs and no fever or cough, but was experiencing shortness of breath, the doctors said. Chest x-rays showed signs of infection and there were some abnormalities in liver functions.
"This reminds us to pay attention to mother-to-child being a possible route of coronavirus transmission," said the chief physician of Wuhan Children Hospital's neonatal medicine department, Zeng Lingkong.
The mother had tested positive for the virus before she gave birth, reports AFP.
The official Xinhua news agency reported Monday that a baby born last week to an infected mother had tested negative.
The hospital also disclosed details of a second case involving an infant who was born healthy on January 13. The baby's nanny was later diagnosed with the virus and the mother days later. The baby started showing symptoms on January 29.
"Whether it was the baby's nanny who passed to the virus to the mother who passed it to the baby, we cannot be sure at the moment. But we can confirm that the baby was in close contact with patients infected with the new coronavirus, which says newborns can also be infected," Zeng said.
However, he added that none of the infected infants were in critical condition, reports Reuters.
The disease is believed to have emerged in December in a Wuhan market that sold wild animals, and spread rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in January.
China's national health commission said on Tuesday that the oldest person diagnosed with the virus is a 90-year-old, and that 80% of reported deaths have been of patients 60 years of age and older.
