(Samantha Murray-Florida/ Futurity) — “Our findings show that vaccination results in a significant increase in antibodies against SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—in breast milk, suggesting that vaccinated mothers can pass on this immunity to their babies, something we are working to confirm in our ongoing research,” says senior author Joseph Larkin III, an associate professor at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences department of microbiology and cell science.
When babies are born, their immune systems are underdeveloped, making it hard for them to fight infections on their own. They are also often too young to respond adequately to certain types of vaccines, says coauthor Josef Neu, a professor in the College of Medicine’s pediatrics department in the division of neonatology. (…)