According to University of Florida research, breast milk from mothers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 may contain significant amounts of antibodies that could help protect infants.
"Our results show that vaccination results is a significant increase of antibodies against SARSCoV-2 -- which causes COVID-19 --in breast milk. This suggests that vaccinated mother can pass this immunity on to their babies," stated Joseph Larkin III (Ph.D.), senior author and associate professor at the UF/IFAS department for microbiology and cell sciences.
Babies are born with a weak immune system, which makes it difficult for them to fight infection on their own. Josef Neu, M.D. is one of the co-authors of the study and a professor at the UF College of Medicine's division of neonatology, department of pediatrics.
Neu explained that breast milk is a way for mothers to give infants passive immunity during this vulnerable time.
Think of breast milk like a toolbox that contains all the tools needed to prepare your infant for the future. Neu stated that vaccination adds an additional tool to the toolbox and has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease. Our study strongly suggests that vaccines can protect mom and baby. This is another reason pregnant women or lactating mothers should get vaccinated.
The study was done between December 2020 to March 2021 when Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were first made available to health care workers.
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Researchers recruited 21 lactating nurses who had never been infected with COVID-19. Researchers sampled breast milk and blood from mothers three times before, during and after vaccination.
Lauren Stafford, a doctoral candidate in Larkin’s lab, stated that after the second dose of vaccine, there was a strong antibody response in breast milk and blood. This is about a hundred times more than levels before vaccination.
Vivian Valcarce M.D., a resident at the UF College of Medicine's division of neonatology and department of pediatrics said that these levels were also higher than those seen after natural infection. The study's findings were co-authored by Stafford and Valcarce.
Valcarce stated that the practice of vaccinating mothers in order to protect their babies is not new.
Expectant mothers should be vaccinated against the flu and whooping cough, which can cause serious illness for babies. "Babies can also get COVID-19 so routine vaccination of mothers could be something that we see in future," Valcarce stated.
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The research team continues to investigate how infants who consume breast milk containing COVID-19 antibody are protected by it.
Larkin stated that she would like to find out if babies who are fed breastmilk containing these antibodies have their own protection against COVID-19. "We would like to learn more about the antibodies, including how long they have been present in breastmilk and how effective they are at neutralizing COVID-19."
Neu stated that his laboratory is also interested to explore the therapeutic potential of breast milk from vaccinated mothers.
The initial results have not been fully analyzed by the researchers, but they remain enthusiastic and encouraged.
Stafford said that there is still much to learn about breast milk and its benefits. This is why he is pursuing a degree as a microbiology and cell scientist at the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Neu stated, "We are also thrilled to see many simultaneous studies around the globe that also show antibodies within the breastmilk vaccinated mother's." "This means that our study validates an increasing body of evidence."
The Children's Miracle Network funded the study and published it in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine.
