• Cibele Wolf Lebrão, Manuela Navarro Cruz, Mariliza Henrique da Silva, Letícia Veríssimo Dutra, Camila Cristiani, Affonso FonsecaFernando LuizFLProfessor of the Pharmacology Course of Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Centro Universitário Saúde ABC, Brazil., and Fabíola Isabel Suano-Souza.
• Head of the Neonatology Service of Hospital Municipal Universitário de São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.
• J Hum Lact. 2020 Nov 1; 36 (4): 609-613.

IntroductionHuman milk cannot currently be considered a major source of COVID-19 infection. On the other hand, it can contain specific antibodies that could modulate a possible newborn infection by SARS-CoV-2.Main IssueA 32-year-old pregnant woman, gestational age 37 and 3/7 weeks, was admitted with a flu-like syndrome caused by COVID-19. The female newborn was appropriate for gestational age, with a birth weight of 2,890 g, length 48 cm, and head circumference 34 cm.ManagementThe mother-infant dyad remained in the rooming-in unit during hospitalization, exclusively breastfeeding and following World Health Organization recommendations for contact and airway precautions. On the 3rd day after delivery, two mother's milk samples (3 and 5 mL) were collected by hand expression. The samples were centrifuged for 10 min twice consecutively to separate fat, which was removed, and the remaining material was transferred to another tube to determine anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin A and Immunoglobulin G (ELISA, Kit EUROIMMUN AG, Luebeck, Germany). Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin A was detected in the two samples evaluated, whose values were 2.5 and 1.9, respectively. No anti-SARSCoV-2 immunoglobulin G was detected. The exclusively-breastfed infant remained well through 45 days of age.ConclusionThe presence of SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin A in the milk of mothers infected with COVID-19 may be related to protection against the transmission and severity of the disease in their infants.

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