Community Versus Vertically Acquired Neonatal SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The EPICENTRE Cohort Study

Neonatal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 infections can be community-acquired or vertically-acquired. The analysis of neonatal patients requiring hospitalization reported in the EPICENTRE worldwide registry shows that community-acquired cases have clinical features (fever, respiratory signs, feeding difficulties, P < 0.0001) and received antibiotics (P = 0.014) more frequently than vertically-acquired patients. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 infections should be considered in the clinical workout of neonatal infections.

Automated summary

Neonatal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 infections can be acquired from the community or vertically. An analysis of hospitalized neonatal patients in the EPICENTRE worldwide registry shows that community-acquired cases have more frequent clinical features (fever, respiratory signs, feeding difficulties, P < 0.0001) and receive antibiotics more often (P = 0.014) compared to vertically-acquired cases. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 infections should be considered during the clinical examination of neonatal infections.