No SARS-CoV-2 detected in amniotic fluid in mid-pregnancy

Controversy exists regarding whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be transmitted in utero from an infected mother to her infant.1 To date, studies have mainly focused on women in late pregnancy.2–4 We report SARS-CoV-2 negativity in amniotic fluid from two pregnant women who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the early stage of pregnancy. Clinical records and laboratory results were retrospectively reviewed for two pregnant women with COVID-19 admitted to Wuhan Tongji Hospital (Wuhan, China) in the first trimester of pregnancy. [...]only transient positive results in amniocentesis have been reported for pregnant women infected with Zika virus, another RNA virus.5 Finally, the virus might have been undetectable in amniotic fluid because of insufficient gestational age—the best time for amniocentesis is after 18–21 weeks' gestation.6 The study was limited by a small sample size and a lack of cord blood.