It is a known fact that breast milk is the best food for newborn babies. It contains all the nutrients needed for a baby's growth as well as antibodies to protects them from infections and illness. Now, scientists are turning to breast milk to treat COVID-19 patients.
In Brazil, a team of scientists used breast milk to treat a woman with COVID-19 who continuously tested positive for about for four months. The woman is suffering from a rare genetic disease that makes her immune system unable to combat viruses and other pathogens. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 in March 2021 and continued to test positive for 124 days by RT-PCR.
Then, the scientist team from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Sao Paulo, advised her to take 30 millilitres of breast milk every three hours for a week. Within a week, her immunity levels improved, and she tested negative for COVID-19. The breast milk she took was donated by a woman who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. This case was reported in an article published in the journal Viruses.
Breast milk contains IgA antibody that neutralises pathogens
According to the scientists, the immune system in humans and other mammals normally produces five types of immunoglobulin antibody: IgM, IgG, IgA, IgE and IgD. Of these, IgA is the main antibody that neutralises viruses and other pathogens while IgG is responsible for recognising and neutralising antigens with which the organism has had contact before.
However, people with immune dysregulation syndromes have a deficiency of IgE, very low production of IgG and in some cases, a complete absence of IgA.
The IgA antibody is present in breast milk, as well as respiratory and gastrointestinal secretions, while IgG is abundantly present in blood.
For treatment of this immunocompromised woman with COVID-19, the UNICAMP team tried an experimental treatment using breast milk to boost her IgA levels. And it worked!
COVID-19 treatment using breast milk
Considering her weak immunity, the woman was deliberately treated at home to avoid hospital-related bacterial infection. In the first two weeks of the COVID infection, the patient had fever, loss of appetite, coughing and asthenia (lack of energy, weakness). But even after two months, her condition didn't improve. That's when the researchers decided to treat her with convalescent plasma therapy, which involves transfusion of IgG and other antibodies produced by people who have recovered from COVID.
While her symptoms improved after the plasma treatment, she continued to test positive for days. She also had mild symptoms, including muscle weakness.
Then, the team decided to use breast milk to boost her IgA levels. They noted that their experiment is based on an article that showed breastfeeding women immunised with Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine produced milk with a reasonable amount of IgA.
The patient was asked to take the milk orally and keep it in her mouth for several minutes, with a three-hour interval between doses, except at night.
The experts explained that IgA sticks to pathogens throughout the gastrointestinal tract, making sure that whatever is improper is eliminated in the faeces.
The woman tested negative after a week, and twice again at 10-day intervals, the researcher stated.