NEW Updates on Breastfeeding, Infant Feeding, Breast Milk and COVID-19 – excerpts from scientific journal articles – 24 February 2021

24 February, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

We have updated our special repository on Breastfeeding, Infant Feeding, Breast Milk and COVID-19. Since our last update Wednesday 10 February 2021, we have added 25 NEW publications for February (16 new), January (3 new) December (2 new), November (1 new), July (1 new), May (1 new), and April (1 new).

http://hopkinshumanitarianhealth.org/empower/advocacy/covid-19/covid-19-...

All publications provide emerging evidence related to COVID-19 and

* Breastfeeding and breast milk (including viral transmission issues)

* Infant feeding recommendations

* Feeding difficulties in newborns

While there were several recent reviews of international literature, this update also adds emerging evidence from China, the United States, India, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom.

Several articles in this update discuss COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant and lactating patients, including current evidence and recommendations to guide clinicians in conversations with patients about the risks and benefits of vaccination.

Others discuss the therapeutic potential of breastfeeding against respiratory and gastro-intestinal symptoms of COVID-19 in infants, as well as the consequences of breastfeeding interruption on infants’ gut health. A recent survey of mothers from 31 countries with SARS-CoV-2 infection evaluated the association between skin-to-skin care, breastfeeding, and rooming-in with neonatal outcomes, including SARS-CoV-2 positivity and the odds of exclusive breastfeeding. This study, among others, also reports on the difficulty some mothers face in establishing breastfeeding after being kept in a separate room from their infant.

Two systematic reviews published this month pooled data on both the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk samples as well as the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Another study tested swabs of breast skin for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in addition to milk samples. Multiple publications suggest the presence of maternal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may offer enhanced immune protection against the virus in the infant, with one study reporting on SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity of these antibodies in collected milk samples.

This is by no means an exhaustive list! The next update for this specific repository will be on Wednesday 10 March 2021. If you know anyone who would benefit from these updates, please let me know.

Happy reading!

Mija Ververs

Mija-tesse VERVERS

Emergency Response and Recovery Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlanta

Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore

USA (+1) 443-707-9769 email: mververs@cdc.gov and mververs@jhu.edu

CHIFA profile: Mija Tesse Cora Ververs is a Health Scientist (CDC), Senior Associate (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, United States.

Email: mververs AT jhu.edu