Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 vertical transmission: a meta-analysis
Xin Lei Goh, Yi Fen Low, Cheng Han Ng, Zubair Amin, Yvonne Peng Mei Ng
Abstract
The likelihood of newborns acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from infected mothers has raised concerns among families and clinicians worldwide. Published case reports and case series have individually reported wide variability in rate of vertical transmission. We therefore aimed to determine a more precise risk of vertical transmission, either intrauterine or during delivery, by pooling evidence from current studies. We conducted a systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (CRD42020183500). We searched PubMed, Medline, Embase and China National Knowledge Infrastructure using search terms neonate, pregnancy, COVID-19, 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2 and similar variants until 23 May 2020. Studies reporting mothers who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and whose newborns were tested by RT-PCR were included. We reviewed 335 full-text articles: 32 studies fulfilled inclusion criteria, 15 overlapping studies were …