Covid antibodies found in breast milk of vaccinated, infected moms: Study – Deccan Chronicle

Washington: Mothers who contract COVID-19 infection and those who get vaccinated against the disease produce breast milk with active SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, according to a study. However, the study published recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics does not imply that breast milk antibodies can provide protection against COVID-19 for nursing children. The researchers collected samples from 77 mothers — 47 in the infected group, 30 in the vaccine group — to determine the level of antibodies in breast milk over time. Mothers who had disease-acquired immunity produced high levels of Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies against the virus in breast milk, while vaccine-acquired immunity produced robust Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, they said. According to the researchers, both antibodies provided neutralisation against SARS-CoV-2, the first time such evidence has been discovered for both IgA and IgG antibodies. A neutralising antibody defends a cell from an infectious particle by preventing any effect it has biologically. “It’s one thing to measure antibody concentrations, but it’s another to say that antibodies are functional and can neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said study co-author Bridget Young, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), US. “One of the exciting findings in this work is that…
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