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Can SARS-CoV-2 be spread through lactation?

DISCOVERIES (ISSN 2359-7232), 2021, April-June issue

CITATION: 

Florea RM, Sultana CM. COVID-19 and breastfeeding: can SARS-CoV-2 be spread through lactation? Discoveries 2021, 9(2): e132. DOI: 10.15190/d.2021.11


Submitted: April 21, 2021; Revised: June 06, 2021; Accepted: June 06, 2021; Published: June 30, 2021; 

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COVID-19 and breastfeeding: can SARS-CoV-2 be spread through lactation?

Radu Marian Florea (1,*), Camelia Madalina Sultana (1,2,*)

(1) Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

(2) Stefan S. Nicolau Virology Institute, Bucharest, Romania


*Corresponding authors: Radu Marian Florea, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Emails: florearadu94@gmail.com; radu.florea@stud.umfcd.ro

Camelia Madalina Sultana, Department of Virology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Stefan S. Nicolau Virology Institute, Bucharest, Romania; Email: madalina.sultana@umfcd.ro

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a new betacoronavirus that was first reported in the Hubei province, China, in December 2019. The virus is likely transmitted through air droplets. However, there are reported cases where SARS-CoV-2-RNA was found in other samples, such as blood or stool. Nonetheless, there is limited information concerning the presence of viral RNA in pregnancy-related samples, specifically breast milk. However unlikely, there is still uncertainty regarding the possibility of vertical transmission from mother to infant through breastfeeding. This review aims to synthetize the literature written so far on this topic.

Despite not being extensively researched, vertical transmission through breast milk seems unlikely. Case series showed that milk samples from mothers with COVID-19 were almost entirely negative. So far, there have been only 9 recorded cases of viral shedding in milk samples, uncertain however of the viability of the particles. Furthermore, WHO and UNICEF strongly encourage commencing breastfeeding after parturition, underlining the benefits of lactation. Moreover, some studies have proven the existence of IgG and IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2-antibodies in the maternal milk that could possibly play an important part in the neonate’s protection against the virus.

Vertical transmission through lactation seems unlikely, most studies pointing towards the safety of breastfeeding. However, further larger-scale studies need to be performed in order to clarify a yet uncertain matter.

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  • 2020, August| For Authors!

    Due to a high volume of article submissions, our peer-review process takes more than usual. The pre-screening decision is released in 1-2 days, while the peer-review process lasts between 10 and 20 days.  

  • 2020, April | For Authors!

    WE DO NOT TOLERATE ANY MISCONDUCT! Please be aware that we are testing all received articles with specialized software for PLAGIARISM and WE WILL TAKE MEASURES if your article is already published or in consideration for publication by other journals! This may result in serious professional consequences for the authors. The latest striking case is the following article which is already published and was re-submitted here.  

  • 2020, April | For Authors!

    We are happy to let you know that all articles published in Discoveries are now included in PubMedCentral (PMC). New accepted articles will be included in PMC and PubMed within 1-2 weeks after their publication.

  • 2020, January | For Authors!

    Starting in January 2020, Discoveries will also consider articles submitted by Discoveries' Editorial Board members. However, only a small number of such articles (maximum 4 articles/year) will be considered for publication after the peer-review process, and the authors who are also our editors will be clearly disclosed on our website.  

  • 2019, September | Indexed by PMC

    Discoveries is now indexed by PubMedCentral and Pubmed. The agreement with US National Library of Medicine was signed on September 10, 2019. Our next step is ISI Web of Science indexing. NOTE: previously published articles will be included on PubMed in early 2020.

  • 2019, September | PubMed inclusion!

    We are happy to let you know that Discoveries successfuly passed the last step (Technical Review) required for PubMedCentral and PubMed inclusion!

  • 2019, July | PubMed inclusion News!

    We are happy to receive positive comments from PMC/NLM-NIH regarding Discoveries' last step (Technical Review) required for PubMedCentral and PubMed inclusion. We will let you know once whole indexing process is completed. 

  • 2019| Sharing and Distribution!

    All articles published in Discoveries are Open Access articles distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and it is not used for commercial purposes.

  • 2018-2019 | For Authors!

    From now on and for at least 1 year, we will only accept articles from authors that are NOT members of Discoveries' Editorial Board. All articles submitted by our editors will be immediately rejected until further notice (one accepted article was already rejected). 

  • 2018 | PubMed inclusion News!

    Discoveries successfully passed the Scientific Quality Review by NLM-NIH for PubMedCentral and PubMed indexing. This is the first and the most important step towards PubMedCentral and PubMed indexing! The second (last) step is the Technical Review.

  • 2016, April | Faster Peer-Review

    Starting on April 13th 2016, all articles selected for a peer-review will receive the post peer-review decision within ~10 days. The initial pre-screening time will remain the same (48h from the submission of the manuscript). This decision will significantly accelerate the publication, with no effect on the quality of the peer-review process.

  • 2016, February | Manuscript submission

    Discoveries is commited to excellence, quality and high editorial standards. We are receiving an increasing number of manuscripts for which the identity of the authors/corresponding author can't be verified. Please NOTE that ALL these articles were and will be immediately REJECTED. Indicating an institutional email address is the easiest way to overcome this problem! Moreover, we do not accept any pressure on our editorial board to accept a manuscript. This results in a prompt rejection of the article.

    Editorial Policies
  • 2016, January | Main Objective

    After reaching all proposed milestones until now (including being indexed by Google Scholar in 2014), Discoveries' next Aim is PubMed indexing of all its articles (already published and upcoming). There will be no charge for the submission or publication of articles before Discoveries is indexed.

  • 2015, August | Discoveries - on PubMed

    We are happy to announce that our first Discoveries articles were included in PMC and PubMed. More articles (submitted by NIH funded authors) are now processed for being included.

    Discoveries articles now on PubMed
  • 2015, April | Special Issue

    DISCOVERIES published the SPECIAL ISSUE entitled "INFLAMMATION BETWEEN DEFENSE AND DISEASE: Impact on Tissue Repair and Chronic Sickness".

    Special Issue on "Inflammation"
  • 2015 | Ischemia Collection

    DISCOVERIES launched a call for papers for a Collection of Articles with focus on "ISCHEMIA". If you are interested to submit a manuscript, please contact us at info@discoveriesjournals.org

  • 2014, September | Special Issue

    DISCOVERIES just publish the SPECIAL ISSUE entitled "CELL SECRETION & MEMBRANE FUSION" in September 2014. Initially scheduled for publication between October 2014-March 2015, this issue was successfully published earlier than scheduled. 

    Special Issue
  • 2014, April | Indexed by Google Scholar

    All our published articles are now indexed by Google Scholar! First citations to Discoveries articles are included! Search for the article's title (recommended) or the authors:

    Google Scholar Search
  • 2014 | DISCOVERIES

    DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are now assigned to all our published manuscripts in Discoveries. DOI uniquely identifies an article and is provided by CrossRef.

    CrossRef
  • 2013, July | Manuscript Submission

    Submit your manuscript FREE, FAST and EASY ! (in less than 1 minute)! There are NO fees for the manuscript submission or publishing of the accepted manuscripts.
    read more

  • 2013, July | DISCOVERIES

    We are now ACCEPTING MANUSCRIPTS for publishing in DISCOVERIES. We aim publishing a small number of high impact experimental articles & reviews (around 40/year) to maintain a high impact factor. Domains of interest: all areas related to Medicine, Biology and Chemistry ...

    read more
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