Newborn in NICU with white lungs - undetectable COVID blamed

A key sign of competency in the medical profession is the ability to diagnose correctly. So if the following is known about the mother of a very sick newborn baby,

• no signs of infection,
• all blood work for sepsis screen negative,
• very high COVID antibody titers but negative for COVID, and
• no active symptoms of infection,

then what should a competent doctor conclude?

The baby in question is in a PICU, dependent on a high-flow ventilator, “fingers crossed” in the words of the delivering doctor, Dr. Rajesh Parikh, who is based in Gujurat, India. Born with what Dr. Parikh calls “white lungs,” the baby appears to be suffering acute respiratory distress, although the mother had an uneventful pregnancy and was healthy throughout.

Dr. Parikh's diagnosis? “Omicron . . . this baby must have had it 3-5 weeks prior to birth.”

To explain how a mother who tested negative for COVID could nonetheless have been the indirect cause of serious illness in her unborn child, Dr. Parikh quoted a colleague who stressed that, “MIS-N [multi-system inflammatory syndrome in neonates] is NOT a [sic] immediate complication of infection but a post-infection inflammatory condition. MIS-C in children occurs typically 4 to 6 weeks AFTER recovery from infection. Similarly, mothers of babies with MIS-N have history of Covid infection a few weeks earlier.”

One Dr. Bhandari then inserts himself into the thread and describes his version of what must have happened – despite the negative COVID test, the mother actually did have COVID, passed not the virus but only the virus antibodies to her baby, which then resulted in MIS-N.

“What is MIS-N and why does it happen? An unborn fetus is not directly exposed to CORONA virus as it spreads through respiratory tract and the baby isn't exposed to the outside world directly. But when the mother contracts the virus, antibodies are made. These antibodies then cross the placenta and reach the baby. As the antibodies don't find any COVID antigen to destroy, they end up destroying normal lung tissue of the unborn babies.”

The fact that COVID vaccination is touted as being so beneficial specifically because it allows these antibodies to pass through the placenta and protect unborn children who likewise have no COVID antigens to destroy is glossed over entirely.

It is at this point that Dr. Bhandari introduces himself as the treating pediatrician and notes that “the stronger the antibody titer, the stronger the symptoms of MIS-N.” (Again, he makes no mention of the fact that the COVID shots induce extremely high antibody titers, far higher than are induced by natural infection – and that this is supposedly beneficial.) 

Then, responding to a question on the possible role of COVID vaccination in this perplexing case, he adds, “Jab antibodies don't cause MIS-C or MIS-N. There is no causation link established.  Won't discourage vaccination for that.”

And so, given that (whichever way you read the tea leaves) the COVID shots have failed in this specific case, Dr. Bhandari offers the only good advice he has left: He entreats pregnant women to “mask up and protect yourself.” A sentiment which is shared by Dr. Parikh who specifies that the mask used must be an N-95 mask, because “vaccines never guarantee full protection from infection.”

This isn’t the only case of pregnancy and perinatal complications in women which is being attributed to undetectable COVID in India.

Dr. Prakash Kini, described as a senior consultant Ob/Gyn in Bengaluru told The South First that there have been several such cases during the pandemic era, and therefore “testing negative for COVID-19 cannot be the benchmark.”

But “vaccines are safe in pregnancy and lactation,” insists Dr. Bhandari. “No reason to think otherwise unless we have a study that refutes this beyond doubt. As of now, we don’t have that."