Antibodies in the breast milk of a maternal woman with COVID-19

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec;9(1):1467-1469. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1780952.

Abstract

A maternal woman was positive for SARS-CoV-2 tested in throat swabs but negative tested in other body fluids, and she had IgG and IgA detected in breast milk. Her infant negative for SARS-CoV-2 at birth had elevated IgG in serum but quickly decayed. These findings suggest that breastfeeding might have the potential benefit to the neonates.

Keywords: COVID-19; IgA; IgG; breastmilk; maternal woman.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Letter

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Viral / analysis*
  • Antibodies, Viral / immunology
  • Betacoronavirus / immunology*
  • COVID-19
  • China
  • Coronavirus Infections / immunology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin A / analysis
  • Immunoglobulin G / analysis
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Milk, Human / immunology*
  • Milk, Human / virology
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / immunology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / immunology
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / virology*
  • SARS-CoV-2

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin G

Grants and funding

This work is supported by grants of the National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFC0841400) and National Nature Science Foundation of China (81803429).