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An Israeli hospital said on Saturday that a stillborn fetus of a woman infected with the coronavirus also carried the virus. This was the second case reported in Israel.
The hospital said it currently cannot link the virus to death itself.
The woman, infected with COVID-19, was in her 36th week of pregnancy when she arrived at the hospital over the weekend after feeling ill, according to Hebrew media.
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Doctors at Meir Medical Center discovered that the unborn child had died in the womb, and a subsequent lab test revealed that the fetus was also infected with the virus.
Illustration: A doctor at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba prepares to enter a COVID-19 ward. (courtesy Meir Medical Center)
Last week, a similar case was reported when the fetus of a 29-year-old woman, in her 25th week of pregnancy, carried the virus when tested after a stillbirth.
In last week’s case, the hospital said there was a high chance the fetus would have died from complications from COVID-19.
“The fetus was infected through the placenta and with a very high degree of certainty, [we can say] died of coronavirus, ”Dr Tal Brosh, head of the infectious diseases department at Assuta hospital in Ashdod, told the Ynet news site.
Dr Yossi Tobin, the hospital’s maternity warden, agreed that since the fetus was infected in utero, it was likely that the death was caused by the coronavirus.
“It was an intrauterine infection of the fetus, which can cause placental infection and death,” Tobin said. “This is a rare event because a baby is usually infected with coronavirus after birth, following contact with the mother. The fact that we were able to discover that they were already positive in the womb indicates a high likelihood that [the fetus] died of coronavirus. ”
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a Maccabi Healthcare Services vaccination center in Modiin on December 24, 2020 (Yossi Aloni / Flash90)
The health ministry has advised pregnant women to get vaccinated against the coronavirus after a number of pregnant women have fallen seriously ill, with several babies having delivered prematurely by cesarean section due to fatal risks to mothers and children.
Some of the women are believed to have been infected with the so-called UK strain of coronavirus, a mutated strain believed to be more infectious and deadly.
The United States Centers for Disease Control also said pregnant women should be allowed to receive the vaccine, noting they are at increased risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
“People who are pregnant and in a group recommended to receive the COVID-19 vaccine may choose to be vaccinated,” the agency said in a statement.
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