COVID-19 not transmitted by breast milk - study

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 28 - COVID-19 does not get passed on to a newborn from breast milk, according to a study coordinated by Turin's Città della Salute (City of Health) and published in the Frontiers in Pediatrics international journal.
    The study, which examined many European cases, concluded that mothers positive for the coronavirus did not expose their babies to additional risk of infection by breastfeeding. if the rules recommended in such cases - use of facemasks, hand washing and disinfecting of all objects are surfaces used - were followed.
    "These results are reassuring for mums and for the health workers who deal with the health of mother and child," said Professor Enrico Bertino of the Città della Salute's Sant'Anna hospital "The study also supports the recent recommendations of the WHO which, despite the limited information available up to now, recommended breastfeeding even for positive mums because of the benefits of breast milk, including immunological ones". (ANSA).