There is no evidence that mothers who have recently become infected with the coronavirus transmit it to their babies through breastfeeding, according to a new US small study. The study found that although a low percentage of breast milk contains coronavirus genetic material, it does not "translate" in the presence of infectious virus particles that can reproduce or become infected. Covid-19 to breastfed babies.
The researchers, led by Dr. Paul Krogstad of the University of California, Berkeley, who published the study in the journal Pediatric Research, analyzed breast milk samples from 110 breastfeeding mothers, 65 of whom had previously tested positive. nine had suspicious symptoms but tested negative and the rest also had symptoms but had not been tested.
Genetic material (RNA) of the coronavirus was detected in the breast milk of seven women (6%), while a second sample taken from the same mothers after days no longer detected the RNA of the virus. However, the scientists found no evidence of coronavirus infection or clinical signs of infection. Covid-19 in the infants of seven women.
The researchers noted that the sample of their study was relatively small, although this is the largest study to date that analyzes breast milk and concludes that breastfeeding by mothers with a diagnosed or suspected coronavirus does not lead to infection. Covid-19 their babies.
"Breast milk is a valuable source of nutrition for babies. In our study we did not find the slightest indication that the breast milk of an infected Covid-19 "It does not contain infectious genetic material or any clinical evidence that the babies themselves are infected, which suggests that breastfeeding is probably not dangerous," Krogstad said. In other words, breastfeeding mothers with infection Covid-19 do not pose a risk to their newborns.
Another small US study by the US National Institutes of Health and Human Development (NICHD), published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that coronavirus infection in pregnant women can cause inflammatory immune reactions in the fetus, even if the fetus is infected. virus has not infected the placenta.
Pregnant women are at more than serious risk Covid-19 compared to non-pregnant women. Also, the Covid-19 during pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth, stillbirth and preeclampsia.
The new study looked at 23 pregnant women, 12 of whom had coronavirus (eight asymptomatic, one mild and three severe). The main findings of the scientists were the following:
- Pregnant women with coronavirus have fewer T-lymphocytes of the immune system, and therefore lower defense against the virus.
- Mothers with coronavirus develop antibodies against the virus whether they have symptoms or not and some of these antibodies are detected in the umbilical cord blood.
- Mothers with coronavirus have higher levels of inflammation and immune response in their blood, regardless of their symptoms (increased cytokines are interleukins 8, 10 and 15).
- Babies from coronavirus-infected mothers (even asymptomatic) have higher levels of interleukin-8, even if they do not have Covid-19.
- While the coronavirus is not detected in the placenta, the placentas of mothers with coronavirus have different "profiles" of immune cells, an indication that the baby's immune system is affected by the maternal infection Covid-19, even if the virus is not present in the placenta.
See links to scientific publications HERE and HERE
Source: RES-EAP