Rev Panam Salud Publica


. 2020 Apr 27;44:e59.
doi: 10.26633/RPSP.2020.59. eCollection 2020.
To Breastfeed or Not to Breastfeed? Lack of Evidence on the Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Breastmilk of Pregnant Women With COVID-19


Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho 1 , Victor Santana Santos 2 , Hudson P Santos Jr 3



Affiliations

Abstract

in English , Spanish , Portuguese
A rapid systematic review was carried out to evaluate the current evidence related to the presence of SARS-CoV-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.

Keywords: Coronavirus infection; SARS virus; breast feeding; pandemics; pneumonia, viral; virus diseases.