{"doi":"10.1101/2020.09.16.20196071","title":"COVID-19 and human milk: SARS-CoV-2, antibodies, and neutralizing capacity","abstract":"Background: It is not known whether SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted from mother to infant during breastfeeding, and if so whether the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh this risk. This study was designed to evaluate 1) if SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in milk and on the breast of infected women, 2) concentrations of milk-borne anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and 3) the capacity of milk to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. Methods: We collected 37 milk samples and 70 breast swabs (before and after breast washing) from 18 women recently diagnosed with COVID-19. Samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-qPCR. Milk was also analyzed for IgA and IgG specific for the nucleocapsid protein, receptor binding domain (RBD), S2 subunit of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, as well as 2 seasonal coronaviruses using ELISA; and for its ability to neutralize SARS-CoV-2. Results: We did not detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in any milk sample. In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected on several breast swabs, although only one was considered conclusive. All milk contained SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA and IgG, and levels of anti-RBD IgA correlated with SARS-CoV-2 neutralization. Strong correlations between levels of IgA and IgG to SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal coronaviruses were noted. Conclusions: Our data do not support maternal-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via milk; however, risk of transmission via breast skin should be further evaluated. Importantly, milk produced by infected mothers is a source of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG and neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 activity. These results support recommendations to continue breastfeeding during mild-to-moderate maternal COVID-19 illness.","journal":"medRxiv","year":2020,"id":118453,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":77,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9334,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":258316,"name":"Janet E. Williams","orcid":"0000-0002-9769-1789","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258318,"name":"Kirsi M. Järvinen","orcid":"0000-0003-1548-6712","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550687,"name":"Mandy B. Belfort","orcid":"0000-0001-8799-3313","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":551429,"name":"Christina D. W. Pace","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258314,"name":"Kimberly A. Lackey","orcid":"0000-0002-6636-4080","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":551430,"name":"Alexandra C. Gogel","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":456491,"name":"Phuong Nguyen‐Contant","orcid":"0000-0002-8273-730X","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550688,"name":"Preshetha Kanagaiah","orcid":"0000-0002-4675-0910","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":324516,"name":"Theresa Fitzgerald","orcid":null,"position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":551431,"name":"Rita Ferri","orcid":null,"position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":299388,"name":"Bridget E. Young","orcid":"0000-0002-3257-8179","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550689,"name":"Casey Rosen‐Carole","orcid":"0000-0002-4539-3587","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550690,"name":"Nichole Diaz","orcid":"0009-0003-3571-9824","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258320,"name":"Courtney L. Meehan","orcid":"0000-0003-2034-652X","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550691,"name":"Beatrice Caffé","orcid":"0000-0002-6849-1921","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":454634,"name":"Mark Y. Sangster","orcid":"0000-0002-1599-5894","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":246117,"name":"David J. Topham","orcid":"0000-0002-9435-8673","position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258321,"name":"Mark A. McGuire","orcid":"0000-0003-4329-0450","position":18,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258319,"name":"Antti Seppo","orcid":"0000-0001-5757-5268","position":20,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258322,"name":"Shelley McGuire","orcid":"0000-0001-8214-2229","position":21,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258315,"name":"Ryan M. Pace","orcid":"0000-0002-8771-2603","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":39,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:13:58.531532Z","pmid":"32995804","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}