Nigel Rollins1, Nicole Minckas2, Fyezah Jehan3, Rakesh Lodha4, Daniel Raiten5, Claire Thorne6, Philippe Van de Perre7, Mija Ververs8, Neff Walker8, Rajiv Bahl2, Cesar G Victora9. 1. Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: rollinsn@who.int. 2. Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 3. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. 4. Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. 5. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. 6. UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK. 7. Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic Infections, INSERM, Etablissement Français du Sang, University of Montpellier, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France. 8. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. 9. International Center for Equity in Health, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concern about the possibility and effects of mother-infant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through breastfeeding and close contact. The insufficient available evidence has resulted in differing recommendations by health professional associations and national health authorities. We present an approach for deciding public health policy on infant feeding and mother-infant contact in the context of COVID-19, or for future emerging viruses, that balances the risks that are associated with viral infection against child survival, lifelong health, and development, and also maternal health. Using the Lives Saved Tool, we used available data to show how different public health approaches might affect infant mortality. Based on existing evidence, including population and survival estimates, the number of infant deaths in low-income and middle-income countries due to COVID-19 (2020-21) might range between 1800 and 2800. By contrast, if mothers with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection are recommended to separate from their newborn babies and avoid or stop breastfeeding, additional deaths among infants would range between 188 000 and 273 000.
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concern about the possibility and effects of mother-infant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through breastfeeding and close contact. The insufficient available evidence has resulted in differing recommendations by health professional associations and national health authorities. We present an approach for deciding public health policy on infant feeding and mother-infant contact in the context of COVID-19, or for future emerging viruses, that balances the risks that are associated with viral infection against child survival, lifelong health, and development, and also maternal health. Using the Lives Saved Tool, we used available data to show how different public health approaches might affect infant mortality. Based on existing evidence, including population and survival estimates, the number of infant deaths in low-income and middle-income countries due to COVID-19 (2020-21) might range between 1800 and 2800. By contrast, if mothers with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection are recommended to separate from their newborn babies and avoid or stop breastfeeding, additional deaths among infants would range between 188 000 and 273 000.
Authors: Johanna Kostenzer; Charlotte von Rosenstiel-Pulver; Julia Hoffmann; Aisling Walsh; Silke Mader; Luc J I Zimmermann Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2022-04-07 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Aleksandra Wesołowska; Magdalena Orczyk-Pawiłowicz; Agnieszka Bzikowska-Jura; Małgorzata Gawrońska; Bartłomiej Walczak Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-03-11 Impact factor: 3.390