Breast Milk Does Not Transfer COVID, but Does Produce COVID-Fighting Antibodies

A recent study shows that breastfeeding mothers do not transmit COVID through milk.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) – in collaboration with several other universities – indicates that women who breastfeed with COVID-19 do not transmit the SARS-CoV-2 virus through their milk, but they do dispensing milk. transferred antibodies that can neutralize the virus.

The study, “Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Antibodies, and Neutralizing Capacity in Milk Produced by Women with COVID-19,” recently published in the journal mBio – analyzed 37 milk samples submitted by 18 women with COVID-19 established. None of the milk samples were found to contain the virus, while nearly two-thirds of the samples contained two antibodies specific for the virus.

Crucially, this study provides evidence that COVID-19 positive mothers should not be separated from their newborns. At the start of the pandemic, major health organizations often provided conflicting advice as to whether this separation was necessary. Hopefully, this report will provide new clarity about the counseling of postnatal mothers.

“We only want to isolate a mother from her baby when it is medically necessary,” said study co-investigator Bridget Young, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at URMC. have sufficient evidence. These early results suggest that breast milk from mothers who have had a COVID-19 infection contains specific and active antibodies to the virus and that they do not transmit the virus through milk. This is great news! “

URMC received more than $ 130,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this study. The first study published in mBio reported on the first group of 18 women who submitted milk samples. Results of the larger study will be released, hopefully reinforcing the initial findings, Young said.

The URMC research group is led by Antti Seppo, Ph.D., in the Department of Pediatrics. Other fellow researchers include Casey Rosen-Carole. MD, medical director of lactation services and programs at URMC, and Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo MD, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of pediatrics and chief of pediatric allergy and immunology.

Mark Sangster, PhD, and David Topham, PhD, both research professors in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, did the primary work measuring antibody test levels in their lab.

“We found high levels of IgA – a common antibody in blood and other body fluids – in their breast milk. IgAs migrate in mucosal transfer, so this is encouraging information that mothers are transferring these antibodies, ”said Sangster.

The full research team also included scientists from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and the University of Idaho. The team has now enrolled nearly 50 women diagnosed with COVID-19 and monitored their progression with the disease for two months.

The study was started to address the lack of existing research on COVID-19 in breast milk. The next steps are to see if the initial results are replicated in larger samples.

“This work needs to be replicated in larger cohorts. In addition, we now need to understand whether the COVID-19 vaccine affects breast milk in the same way, ”said Young.

Reference: “Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Antibodies and Neutralizing Capacity in Milk Produced by Women with COVID-19” by Ryan M. Pace, Janet E. Williams, Kirsi M. Järvinen, Mandy B. Belfort, Christina DW Pace , Kimberly A. Lacey, Alexandra C. Gogel, Phuong Nguyen-Contant, Preshetha Kanagaiah, Theresa Fitzgerald, Rita Ferri, Bridget Young, Casey Rosen-Carole, Nichole Diaz, Courtney L. Meehan, Beatrice Caffé, Mark Y. Sangster, David Topham, Mark A. McGuire, Antti Seppo, and Michelle K. McGuire, Feb. 9, 2021, mBio.
DOI: 10.1128 / mBio.03192-20