Kilic, TalatKilic, SebnemBerber, Nurcan KiriciGunduz, AytenErsoy, Yasemin2024-08-042024-08-0420211368-50311742-1241https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.14175https://hdl.handle.net/11616/99887Objectives Studies have shown that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is primarily transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets. It is unclear whether it can be shed into human milk and transmitted to a child via breastfeeding. We investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human milk samples of 15 mothers with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and in the throat swab samples of their infants. Methods This is a prospective observational study in which breast milk samples were collected from 15 mothers with COVID-19. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the whole human milk samples of the patients was investigated using RT-qPCR. All of the infants underwent a clinical follow-up during their 14-day isolation and their throat swab samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Results Of 15 mothers with COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in milk samples from 4 mothers. The throat swab samples from these mothers' infants were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Three of the four mothers were breastfeeding. In addition, during the 14-day isolation, all but three of the mothers breastfed their infants. Of the 12 breastfed infants, while the test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in throat swab samples was negative in 6 of the infants, the other 6 infants, who had mild COVID-19 symptoms, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Clinical outcomes of all mothers and infants were uneventful. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first case series with the largest number of cases with SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity in human milk samples of mothers with COVID-19. However, we believe that the benefits of breastfeeding may outweigh the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in infants.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess[No Keywords]Article7573376393910.1111/ijcp.141752-s2.0-85104385660Q2WOS:000640791600001Q2