In recent months, studies and research have been carried out around the world in the search for a vaccine or treatment for the coronavirus, which has affected millions of people in the world.
In the case of those who have babies, its effect on the milk produced by mothers during lactation has also been reviewed. Today we have encouraging news, as the results of the first study of an ongoing investigation have found Covid-19 antibodies in the breast milk of mothers who were infected and have recovered.
Some time ago we shared the research of Dr. Rebecca Powell, an infectious disease expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who was collecting samples of breast milk from infected mothers for analysis .
The objective of collecting the milk of nursing mothers who have had coronavirus was to analyze it to see if coronavirus antibodies had been produced after suffering from this disease.
Recently, the results of the first stage of his research were published, which was carried out with a small sample, but gives us hopeful news: 80% of breast milk samples from mothers who recovered from the coronavirus contained specific antibodies for this disease .
The preliminary study consisted of comparing 15 samples of breast milk from infected mothers, with 10 samples from lactating mothers who had not suffered from the coronavirus, and that had been collected before December 2019.
According to the results of the study, the milk of mothers who had the disease has a strong immune response to Covid-19 , as the antibody was found in the most dominant class of antibodies found in milk: immunoglobulin A (IgA).
These antibodies, which pass from mother to baby and protect them from multiple diseases , are very durable, so Dr. Powell explains in an interview for Insider that they could be resistant enough to be used therapeutically, for example, intravenously.
Of course, research should continue to find out whether or not these antibodies could be used in babies or adults to combat the disease , but in the meantime, the recommendation to continue breastfeeding even in infected mothers remains, since breast milk acts as the better defense and food for the baby in its first months.
Photo | iStock
Via | Scary mommy
In Babies and more | Coronavirus and breastfeeding: what precautions to take if you are breastfeeding your baby
