The World Health Organization recommends that mothers breastfeed their newborn children even if they have the coronavirus. A new study carried out by researchers from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (China), comes to support these guidelines, since it has proven that breast milk could help prevent or treat Covid-19.
Research has found that whey proteins kill most live strains of the virus.
Mothers should breastfeed, even with Covid
According to the study published on Biorxiv.org led by Professor Tong Yigang of the Peking University of Chemical Technology, breast milk was able to “block viral adhesion, entry, and even post-entry viral replication.”
The milk was collected in 2017, long before the start of the pandemic, so it had no antibodies to the virus. Animal and human milk were analyzed and it was found that although whey proteins from cow and goat milk could also inhibit the virus, they are less effective than human breast milk, which is believed to have a higher concentration of antiviral factors. Human milk serum demonstrated a virus inhibition efficiency of about 98%.
The researchers mixed some healthy cells in human breast milk, then washed the milk and exposed the cells to the virus. The scientists found that there was almost no viral binding or entry into these cells and, even, viral replication was stopped in already infected cells. Their conclusion was that the infection could be inhibited by breast milk, as well as having suppressive effects on bacteria and viruses such as HIV.
Although the researchers suspected that the coronavirus was sensitive to some known antiviral proteins in milk, such as lactoferrin, they found that none of the proteins worked as expected. Instead, they found that the closest ingredient to inhibiting the virus was serum, which contains several different proteins.
This finding contradicts the way of acting at the beginning of the pandemic, when newborns were separated from mothers who tested positive.
However, it supports the WHO recommendation to breastfeed the newborn, even if the mother has been infected with coronavirus. This Organization followed 46 covid-19 positive women from various countries who were breastfeeding their children until June. They detected viral genes in the milk of three mothers, but there was no evidence of infection. Only one baby tested positive and transmission by other means could not be ruled out.
Precisely, to get out of any doubt, an ongoing investigation from the University of Washington, studies the risks and benefits of breastfeeding with Covid-19.
What is clear is that with the data in hand and in view of this Chinese study, there is no doubt that breast milk is the most complete and healthy food we can offer our children.
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In Babies and More | Coronavirus and breastfeeding: what precautions to take if you are breastfeeding your baby, Pediatricians recommend maintaining breastfeeding in Covid-19 positive mothers
