COVID-19 in human milk: What do we know?

Thursday, 25 June 2020

This webinar will present current scientific knowledge and knowledge gaps related to human milk and SARS-CoV-2. Several published studies have reported the occasional presence of viral RNA in human milk from SARS-CoV-2-infected women. The webinar will present new research, indicating that presence of viral RNA is rare and does not represent active virus that can replicate and cause disease. Even if human milk was contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 during pumping and handling, Holder pasteurization, which is commonly used by human milk banks, inactivates the virus in contaminated breast milk. Together, these data indicate that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mother to infant through human milk is unlikely. 

Objectives:

  • Understand the concept that presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in human milk is rare and does not represent active, replication-competent) virus that can cause disease.
  • Understand that human milk is likely not a vector for SARS-CoV-2, but may contain numerous bioactive components that protect the infant from diseases.

 

Presenter

Lars Bode

Dr. Bode’s laboratory focuses on human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), a group of complex sugar molecules that represent the third most abundant component of human milk after lactose and lipids. The goal of Dr. Bode’s research is to understand how HMOs are synthesized in the human mammary gland and how they benefit the breast-fed infant and potentially also the breastfeeding mother.

The laboratory employs a multidisciplinary collaborative research approach that combines preclinical studies and human cohort and intervention studies with the goal to identify structure-function relationships in a variety of clinical contexts related to maternal and infant health. The team has developed tools for rapid high-throughput HMO composition analysis and collaborates with partners from around the world to identify maternal actors that influence HMO composition and to link HMO composition to infant health and disease outcomes.

Today, as Director of MOMI CORE, Dr. Bode dedicates his research excellence, leadership and partnership building skills to accelerate and effectively translate human milk research into improved maternal and infant health, globally.

 

Event Details

Date:

  • 25 June 2020

Duration:

  • 1 hour

Time: 

  • 08:00 - 09:00, PDT, San Francisco
  • 10:00 - 11:00, CT, Chicago IL
  • 11:00 - 12:00, EDT, New York
  • 16:00 - 17:00, BST, London
  • 17:00 - 18:00, CEST, Berlin
  • 18:00 - 19:00, MSK, Moscow
  • 19:00 - 20:00, GST, Dubai
  • 20:30 - 21:30, IST, Mumbai

This webinar is fee of charge