Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in Breastmilk from 18 Infected Women

To The Editor Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization advise that women who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 may choose to breastfeed with appropriate protections to prevent transmission of the virus through respiratory droplets. (1) However, the potential for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through breastfeeding is currently unknown. To date, case reports on breastmilk samples from a total of 24 SARS-CoV-2-infected women have been published. (2-7) Of those, viral RNA was detected in ten breastmilk samples from four women. In some but not all cases, environmental contamination as the source of the virus or retrograde flow from an infected infant could not be ruled out.