ReviewMaternal & child nutrition2020
SARS-CoV-2 and human milk: What is the evidence?
Review in Maternal & child nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Remote provision of breastfeeding support and education: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- [Review of new evidence about the possible vertical transmission of coronavirus disease-2019].Gaceta sanitariaPooled it
- Lactoferrin and SIgA Concentrations in Human Milk of SARS-CoV-Infected Mothers-Polish Cohort Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Anti-SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in human breast milk following SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Article
- Method Validation Study for SARS-CoV-2 Viral RNA Detection in Cervical, Rectal, Amniotic Fluid, Placental, Umbilical Cord Blood, and Breastmilk Specimens in a Cohort of Unvaccinated Women in Manila, Philippines.Acta medica Philippina · 2024Article
- Prevalence and duration of SARS-CoV-2 fecal shedding in breastfeeding dyads following maternal COVID-19 diagnosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Feeding Practices of Stable Term and Late Preterm Neonates Born at a Tertiary Hospital in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Acta medica Philippina · 2024Article
- Investigating the mode of transmission of COVID-19 through genital secretions, semen, the birth canal, and lactation: A systematic review.Journal of education and health promotion · 2024Article
- Viruses and Human Milk: Transmission or Protection?Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Review
- Vertical transmission and maternal passive immunity post-SARS-CoV-2.Future virology · 2023Review
- Protecting Breastfeeding during the COVID-19 Pandemic.American journal of perinatology · 2023Article
- Breast milk preservation: thermal and non-thermal processes and their effect on microorganism inactivation and the content of bioactive and nutritional compounds.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Review
- Breastfeeding vs. breast milk transmission during COVID-19 pandemic, which is more important?Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Review
- Maternal mental health and breastfeeding amidst the Covid-19 pandemic: cross-sectional study in Catalonia (Spain).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Observational
- Human milk inhibits some enveloped virus infections, including SARS-CoV-2, in an intestinal model.Life science alliance · 2022Article
- Neurological effects of COVID-19 in infants and children.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2022Review
- Broad Cross-Reactive IgA and IgG against Human Coronaviruses in Milk Induced by COVID-19 Vaccination and Infection.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Persistence of Anti SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Breast Milk from Infected and Vaccinated Women afterNutrients · 2022Article
- The COVID-19 Infodemic Through Facebook: Comparison of Content and the Accuracy of Breastfeeding Information.Cureus · 2022Article
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as one of the most compelling and concerning public health challenges of our time. To address the myriad issues generated by this pandemic, an interdisciplinary breadth of research, clinical and public health communities has rapidly engaged to collectively find answers and solutions. One area of active inquiry is understanding the mode(s) of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Although respiratory droplets are a known mechanism of transmission, other mechanisms are likely. Of particular importance to global health is the possibility of vertical transmission from infected mothers to infants through breastfeeding or consumption of human milk. However, there is limited published literature related to vertical transmission of any human coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2) via human milk and/or breastfeeding. Results of the literature search reported here (finalized on 17 April 2020) revealed a single study providing some evidence of vertical transmission of human coronavirus 229E; a single study evaluating presence of SARS-CoV in human milk (it was negative); and no published data on MERS-CoV and human milk. We identified 13 studies reporting human milk tested for SARS-CoV-2; one study (a non-peer-reviewed preprint) detected the virus in one milk sample, and another study detected SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG in milk. Importantly, none of the studies on coronaviruses and human milk report validation of their collection and analytical methods for use in human milk. These reports are evaluated here, and their implications related to the possibility of vertical transmission of coronaviruses (in particular, SARS-CoV-2) during breastfeeding are discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.