Modulating Role of Breastfeeding Toward Long COVID Occurrence in Children: A Preliminary Study

Giulia Vizzari; Daniela Morniroli; Valentina Tiraferri; Silvana Castaldi; Maria Francesca Patria; Paola Marchisio; Carlo Agostoni; Fabio Mosca; Danilo Buonsenso; Gregorio Paolo Milani; Maria Lorella Giannì; CHICO Study Group

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.884962

Modulating Role of Breastfeeding Toward Long COVID Occurrence in Children: A Preliminary Study

Front Pediatr. 2022 Mar 30:10:884962. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.884962. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Giulia Vizzari¹, Daniela Morniroli^{1

2}, Valentina Tiraferri², Silvana Castaldi^{3

4}, Maria Francesca Patria⁵, Paola Marchisio^{5

6}, Carlo Agostoni^{2

5}, Fabio Mosca^{1

2}, Danilo Buonsenso^{7

8}, Gregorio Paolo Milani^{2

5}, Maria Lorella Giannì^{1

2}; CHICO Study Group

Collaborators

CHICO Study Group:
Francesco Folino, Maria Carola Pensabene, Marina Macchi, Cristina De Rose, Rosa Morello, Carolina Gentili, Margherita Zona, Alessia De Matteis

Affiliations

¹ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Milan, Italy.
² Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
³ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Postgraduate School of Public Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Pediatric Unit, Milan, Italy.
⁶ Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁷ Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli", Rome, Italy.
⁸ Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di Base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2) pandemic has forced the global health system to face new challenges both in the acute management of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) patients and in its consequences. In particular, the long-term effects of this new virus, especially in children, are still poorly understood. Scientific research is currently trying to understand the mechanisms underlying the so called "long COVID syndrome". Since the beginning of the pandemic, breastmilk has been studied for its antiviral and immunomodulatory properties. Based on these assumptions, we conducted a preliminary study in order to investigate the prevalence of long COVID in a cohort of Italian children with previously detected SARS-CoV-2 infection and evaluate if breastfeeding might play a role in modulating long COVID occurrence.

Keywords: COVID-19; breastfeeding; childhood; human milk; immune system.