Woman delivers 'miracle' baby after H7N9 recovery_美文

Woman delivers 'miracle' baby after H7N9 recovery

"It was a miracle," Sun said.

The first cases of H7N9 infection broke out in China in March. Health officials contained it several months later but not before the virus spread to 132 people on the Chinese mainland, claiming 43 lives by June 30.

Qiu and her child are currently in stable condition, hospital officials said. But doctors will need to follow up with Qiu's child regularly for any possible symptoms from the H7N9 virus through the age of 3, Sun said.

Su Suiqing, an expert with the National Center for Women and Children's Health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "If a woman gets a viral infection in the first three months of her pregnancy, it may pose a high risk to the fetus.

"Miscarriage and deformation are common outcomes. But getting infected in the fifth month or later is less harmful."

Tong Zhaohui, a respiratory expert and vice-president of Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing, said a fetus usually faces risks if a pregnant woman takes medication, but the risks are much lower if she is about to give birth.

Tong cited a similar case where a woman had a Caesarian and gave birth to a child while medical workers provided her emergency care for her H1N1 infection.