After testing positive for Covid-19 for four months, a patient with a rare genetic disease that affects immunity managed to get rid of SARS-CoV-2 with the help of breast milk from a vaccinated woman.
The patient is diagnosed with immunoderegulation syndrome, a disease that causes a reduction in the rates of part of the antibodies produced by the body. The woman is accompanied by the pediatrician and professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, Maria Marluce dos Santos Vilela.
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The doctor explained that the disease affects the IgA immunoglobulin, a type of antibody that is present in breast milk and is responsible for neutralizing viruses and other disease-causing agents.
The picture also reduces the production of the IgG antibody, which is present in the blood and works to neutralize antigens with which the body has already had contact.
Covid-19 long
The patient tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time in March 2021 and presented the common symptoms of the disease. In order not to run the risk of contracting a bacterial infection, she was advised by Vilela to remain in isolation at home.
“The inborn error of immunity that it presents leaves its defense system completely deregulated. Its inflammatory response is deficient, there are few cells moving to the site of inflammation and low antibody production,” explained the doctor to Agência Fapesp.
The patient had no complications from the disease, but continued to test positive and with some symptoms after two months. The doctors responsible for her condition decided to carry out a blood transfusion of antibodies produced by people who had recovered from Covid-19.
The procedure led to a reduction in symptoms and blood inflammation, but the patient continued to test positive for Covid-19 in RT-PCR tests. The patient was also showing signs of adynamia, a muscle weakness caused by prolonged infectious processes.
Breast milk treatment
That’s when the idea of doing the treatment with breast milk came up. The scientists had followed a study that showed that lactating women immunized with the Pfizer vaccine produced milk with antibodies.
“We then decided to carry out the assistance experience of replacing IgA via breast milk”, said pediatrician Vilela. “We recommend that she consume milk orally, as the IgA works like a ‘broom’, that is, it sticks to the pathogens along the entire gastrointestinal tract and everything that is inappropriate is eliminated in the feces”.
The patient ingested, for a week, 30 millimeters of breast milk every three hours to prevent the virus from replicating. After treatment, she tested negative for Covid-19 in more than one test.
The patient continues to be monitored and undergoing other tests to ensure that the disease does not reappear. The researchers also pointed out that samples were collected from different periods to prove that the patient did not contract the Covid-19 virus more than once, but that she was contaminated for a long time.
Via: FAPESP Agency