To breastfeed or not to breastfeed? Lack of evidence on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in breastmilk of pregnant women with COVID-19

• Published in: Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
• Main Authors: Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho, Victor Santana Santos, Hudson P. Santos Jr
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2020
• Subjects: coronavirus infection; virus diseases; pneumonia; viral; pandemics; sars virus; breast feeding; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2020.59; https://doaj.org/article/fd8fbfae493644538d8961dc3aa294b6

A rapid systematic review was carried out to evaluate the current evidence related to the presence of SARSCoV-2 in breast milk from pregnant women with COVID-19. Eight studies analyzing the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the breast milk of 24 pregnant women with COVID-19 during the third trimester of pregnancy were found. All patients had fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness and chest computed tomography images indicative of COVID-19 pneumonia. Most pregnant women had cesarean delivery (91.7%) and two neonates had low birthweight (< 2 500 g). Biological samples collected immediately after birth from upper respiratory tract (throat or nasopharyngeal) of neonates and placental tissues showed negative results for the presence SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR test. No breast milk samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 and, to date, there is no evidence on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk of pregnant women with COVID-19. However, data are still limited and breastfeeding of women with COVID-19 remains a controversial issue. There are no restrictions on the use of milk from a human breast milk bank.