Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a
extremely infectious disease, and the current outbreak has been declared
by WHO as a global public health threatening. Researches have showed
that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is mainly from person to person via
airborne droplets. It is unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 can be shed into
human milk and transmitted to a child via breastfeeding. Here we
investigated SARS-CoV-2 RNA in breast-milk samples of three mothers with
SARS-CoV-2 and their infant. The human milk sample of one mother for
SARS-CoV-2 RNA was positive. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was not
detected in human milk of two mothers.The throat swab sample was also
positive in the infant of the mother whose SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected
in human milk. By contrast, throat swab of others infants was negative.
Because the mother with SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in human milk sample is
not breastfeeding, the risk of contagion from the infant to the mother
is eliminated. To date, in the literature, the presence of SARS-CoV-2
RNA has only been detected in the breast milk of two mothers with
SARS-CoV-2. To the best of our knowledge, our case is third case with
SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in human milk. On the other hand, this is first
case with SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in human milk of mother who does not
breastfeed her infant.The existing data indicates that SARS-CoV-2 can be
rare transmitted through human milk.