Abstract
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continuous to spread, the transfer of maternal anti severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies via lactation is an important source of immunity innewborns that requires more comprehensive studies toimprove vaccine options in these candidates. The aim of this study was to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies against COVID-19 in breast milk and serum oflactating mothers post vaccination and to establish a correlation between both. Hundred and eighty lactating mothers were included in this cross sectional cohort study conducted at Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar. We described the immunogenicity 21days after the booster dose of vaccine in 21 patients. Breast Milk and serum specimens were collected and investigated for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies by consuming electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2S Roche, Switzerland). One-hundred percent of patients revealed robust positive findings to SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins antibodies in breast milk and 85 percent in serum, i.e.,>0.8IU/mL. Our study shows that lactating mothers can mount robust immune reactions against SARS-CoV-2 post vaccination. All participants had significantly higher antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination. Participants had antibody titers one scale higher post vaccination than pre vaccination. A significant correlation was found between SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in milk and serum. Constant monitoring of antibodies titers is estimated to attain significant humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Highlights
Breast-feeding mothers are considered as one of the highrisk groups for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination due to the fact of viral transmission to newborns and the possible vaccine side effects in this group
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continuous to spread, the transfer of maternal anti severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies via lactation is an important source of immunity in newborns that requires more comprehensive studies to improve vaccine options in these candidates
The aim of this study was to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies against COVID-19 in breast milk and serum of lactating mothers post vaccination and to establish a correlation between both
Summary
Breast-feeding mothers are considered as one of the highrisk groups for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination due to the fact of viral transmission to newborns and the possible vaccine side effects in this group. No data were available on the vaccination of these participants earlier. Inactivated COVID-19 virus is being used by Sino pharm and Sinovac to elicit an immunological response. Both of them utilize aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant. Sino pharm and Sinovac were proven to be 73% (40,000 participants) and 83.5% (10,000 individuals) effective in phase III trials, respectively [1,2,3]. Sino pharm and Sinovac vaccines were approved for maternal immunization by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 7th of May 2021 and 1st June 2021, respectively [4, 5]. Research has revealed that anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies can be found in the milk of infected mothers [8] but only a few evidence are available of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies presence in immunized lactating mothers [1, 9,10,11,12,13]
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