Audiological profile of newborn and lactating children who were born of women who have had COVID-19 during their pregnancy.

Abstract

As with other viruses, COVID-19 may cause hearing loss. The use of screening tests for diagnosing changes in cochlear function enables an early approach and, in many cases, the restoration of auditory function. Neonatal hearing screening has been described as the main tool for diagnosing and treating hearing loss in the first months of life. This study aimed to identify any audiological
profile changes in newborns and infants of mothers affected by COVID-19 by neonatal hearing screening.This retrospective and cross-sectional study included a population consisting of newborns/infants who were born of mothers who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 by IgG/IgM + or RT-PCT+ during their pregnancy and who were born from April 2020 to April 2021 at Hospital Naval Marcílio Dias. The study population consisted of 56 NB/infants with a mean weight of 3.106.4 ± 563,7g who were born by a cesarean section (83.9%) after a gestational age ≥ 37 weeks (76.8%), of which 60% were girls. The population of this study shoned no alterations in any of the neonatal audiological test exams. This research found no audiological profile during the neonatal hearing exam in the
study population.