For the first time, Ulm virologists have detected the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the breast milk of an infected woman. Her infant also developed COVID-19. However, it is unclear whether the child has actually been infected through breast milk. Nevertheless, the article published in the renowned journal “The Lancet” provides information on a possible new transmission pathway for the pathogen.
Typically, SARS-CoV-2 is passed from person to person via droplet infection. Now researchers at Ulm University Medicine in collaboration with Karin Steinhart from the Heidenheim Health Department have successfully detected SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk. For this purpose, the scientists led by Professor Jan Münch and Rüdiger Groß have the breast milk of two infected women
examined for viral RNA of the new coronavirus. The detection of a possible viral infection and the determination of the viral load was carried out at various times after the positive corona test results of the mothers.
The course of the disease of the two women is documented: after delivery, both healthy mothers shared a room with the newborn. When one of the women developed symptoms of the disease, she was isolated with her newborn and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The neighbor did not notice typical symptoms such as coughing, a slight fever and a loss of her sense of smell and taste until after she was released. As a result, this woman was also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
While there was no evidence of the new coronavirus in the breast milk samples of the first-ill woman, the SARS-CoV-2 result in the milk samples of the second mother was positive four times in a row. The method used, quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), not only made it possible to detect an infection, but also to determine the viral load. This was around 100,000 viral genome copies per milliliter of breast milk. After 14 days, no virus was detectable in breast milk and both mother and child recovered from COVID-19.
Since the onset of the symptoms, the mother, who later fell ill, had worn oral and nasal protection when handling the baby and had disinfected her hands and breasts. In addition, she regularly sterilized the breast pump used and other breastfeeding equipment. However, it remains unclear whether the baby was actually infected while breastfeeding.
“Our study shows that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in breastfeeding women with acute infection in breast milk. But we do not yet know how often this is the case, whether the viruses in milk are also infectious and can be transmitted to infants through breastfeeding, ”explains Professor Jan Münch from the Ulm Institute for Molecular Virology.
The investigation was developed as part of the EU Fight-nCoV project. Through the HORIZON 2020 program, the consortium headed by the University of Stockholm will receive around 2.8 million euros for two years. Furthermore, the study was supported by the network of the Ulm Collaborative Research Center 1279 to research the body’s own peptides (“Use of the human peptidome to develop new antimicrobial and anti-cancer therapeutics”).
Rüdiger Groß, Carina Conzelmann, Janis A. Müller, Steffen Stenger, Karin Steinhart, Frank Kirchhoff, Jan Münch. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Human Breast Milk. The Lancet.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31181-8/fulltext
The article appeared as a “letter” in “The Lancet”. Journal note:
Correspondence pieces represent the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of The Lancet or any Lancet specialty journal. This correspondence was peer-reviewed.
Source: Ulm University Hospital
Internet: https://www.uniklinik-ulm.de/
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