Pediatric Unit. La Vileta Surgery. Department of Primary Care, Matamusinos Street, 07013, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), 79 Valldemossa Road, 07120, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Int Breastfeed J. 2021 Oct 18;16(1):83. doi: 10.1186/s13006-021-00430-z.
It has been demonstrated that children who had been breastfed remain better protected against various infections, and notably respiratory tract infections, well beyond infancy. Since the role of breastfeeding to explain why children are less affected by COVID-19 has not been studied until now, the aim of this study was to determine whether any history of breastfeeding reduces the incidence rate of COVID-19 in children.
This was a secondary analysis of an observational study on clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric COVID-19 in Majorca. A total of 691 children were recruited during the 5 months of August-December 2020. Eligible participants were children under 14 who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric emergency services. The independent explanatory variable was any breastfeeding. Bivariate analyses were conducted through the Chi-square test, the Fisher's Exact test or the Student's T test. All children had the same demographic, epidemiological and clinical data collected through a study team member interview and via the participants medical records.
Within the sample of children who visited emergency services with symptoms of potential COVID-19, we found higher prevalence of positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test results among those who were exclusively formula fed compared with those who were ever breastfed (OR 2.48; 95% CI 1.45, 3.51; P = 0.036).
The present study suggests that ever breastfeeding reduces the risk of COVID-19 among children, as documented for other infections.
已经证明，母乳喂养的儿童在婴儿期后仍然能更好地预防各种感染，特别是呼吸道感染。由于母乳喂养在解释为什么儿童受 COVID-19 影响较小方面的作用尚未得到研究，本研究旨在确定母乳喂养史是否能降低儿童 COVID-19 的发病率。
这是对马略卡岛儿科 COVID-19 临床和流行病学特征的观察性研究的二次分析。在 2020 年 8 月至 12 月的 5 个月内，共招募了 691 名儿童。合格的参与者是在儿科急诊服务中接受 SARS-CoV-2 检测的 14 岁以下儿童。独立的解释变量是任何母乳喂养。通过卡方检验、Fisher 精确检验或学生 T 检验进行了双变量分析。所有儿童都有相同的人口统计学、流行病学和临床数据，通过研究团队成员的访谈和参与者的病历收集。
在因疑似 COVID-19 症状而就诊急诊服务的儿童样本中，与曾经母乳喂养的儿童相比，完全配方奶喂养的儿童中 SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR 检测结果阳性的比例更高（OR 2.48；95%CI 1.45，3.51；P=0.036）。
本研究表明，与其他感染一样，母乳喂养可降低儿童 COVID-19 的风险。
