Baby who tested positive for COVID-19 just eight days after he was born is released from hospital having spent three weeks on a respirator

  • Gustavo Barbosa was released from a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, last Friday after spending almost three weeks intubated due to COVID-19
  • The one-month-old baby was born March 23 and was infected eight days later 
  • Glenda Preta told Brazilian online news portal G1 that the infant probably contracted the virus from her three-year-old son when he first arrived home
  • Gustavo Barbosa developed flu-like symptoms and was hospitalized March 30 and placed on a respirator the following day  
  • He was removed from the respirator April 18 and was given oxygen for a couple of days before he was able to breathe on his own without any complications
  • The mother said the baby did require additional care due to seizures that he experienced 
  • COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 1,300 children in Brazil since the pandemic struck 

By Adry Torres For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

A baby boy who was infected with COVID1-19 at eight days of age has been reunited with his parents after spending a month on a ventilator at a hospital in southern Brazil.

Gustavo Barbosa was born March 23 and was admitted to a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, on March 30, after he tested positive for the virus.

The infant's condition worsened the following day, requiring him to be placed on a respirator, Brazilian online news outlet G1 reported.

Glenda Preta, 23, said her oldest son, Bernardo Barbosa, presented flu-like symptoms but was not tested for the virus during a doctor's visit.

'It all happened very fast. I just prayed. I asked God to heal my son who was in that hospital,' Preta said. 'I got a call or a video of him hospitalized once a day. Seeing an intubated son was the worst thing that happened to me.'

Gustavo Barbosa was born March 23 and admitted to a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, on March 30 after he tested positive for the COVID-19. He was placed on a respirator March 31 and removed from it April 18. Last Friday, Barbosa was discharged from the hospital and reunited with his family

Gustavo Barbosa was born March 23 and admitted to a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, on March 30 after he tested positive for the COVID-19. He was placed on a respirator March 31 and removed from it April 18. Last Friday, Barbosa was discharged from the hospital and reunited with his family

Glenda Preta (center) told Brazilian online news portal G1 that her one-month-old son, Gustavo Barbosa (pictured), may have been contracted the coronavirus from his three-year-old brother, who had flu-like symptoms but was not tested for COVID-19 during a doctor's visit

Glenda Preta (center) told Brazilian online news portal G1 that her one-month-old son, Gustavo Barbosa (pictured), may have been contracted the coronavirus from his three-year-old brother, who had flu-like symptoms but was not tested for COVID-19 during a doctor's visit

Preta believes Gustavo Barbosa, who was discharged from Contagem Municipal Hospital last Friday, contracted the virus from his brother at home just days after she and her husband brought him home from the hospital.

Gustavo Barbosa soon thereafter developed a cough with a runny nose.

He was removed from the respirator April 18 and was given oxygen for a couple of days before he was able to breathe on his own.

The boy, however, required additional checkups with a pediatric neurologist after he started experiencing seizures.

'He was born again, we were born again,' Preta said. 'I thank all of the hospital staff. We are all relieved and happy. Having my child at home, breastfeeding, sleeping well, is all priceless. This Mother's Day will be very special.'

Gustavo Barbosa recovered from COVID-19 after contracting the virus just eight days after he was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Gustavo Barbosa recovered from COVID-19 after contracting the virus just eight days after he was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

According to data released by Brazil's Health Ministry in April, at least 1,300 children have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic struck the South American nation.

As many as 852 children under the age of nine, including 518 babies who were at least one-year-old, died from the ravaging virus between February 2020 and March 15, 2021.

Brazil, whose hospital system has been overwhelmed by the pandemic, is second in the world behind the United States with 414,399 deaths, according to data published Thursday by John Hopkins University. The nation has the third-most confirmed cases, 14,930,183, behind the U.S. and India.

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