Breast milk can prevent or treat Covid-19, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.
A research team in Beijing tested the effects of breast milk on cells exposed to the Sars-CoV-2 virus. Milk was collected in 2017, long before the start of the pandemic, and the types of cells tested varied from animal kidney cells to lung and intestinal cells of young humans.
The result is the same: most of the live virus strains are killed by the milk.
Breast milk “blocks viral attachments, entry and even virus replication after entry,” the team led by Professor Tong Yigang of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology wrote in two non-peer-reviewed papers posted on biorxiv.org on Friday.
Previous breastfeeding is thought to increase the risk of transmitting the virus.
In Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, newborns were separated from mothers who tested positive and fed exclusively with formula, according to Chinese media reports from February.
Video: Reuters, TEMPO
Editor: Ridian Eka Saputra
– .
