As a new study about Covid-19 antibodies emerges, we learn that human breast milk contains antibodies. Now, researchers at Lactiga are working on a treatment (not prevention) that may reduce the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 significantly in the airways. Here is what you need to know.
Human Breast Milk to Fight Covid-19
Lactiga joined forces with Rebecca Powell, a researcher at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine in New York, to develop a treatment for Covid-19. If successful, the new treatment could be used at home or in the hospital. But, how efficient this could be?
The company has already signed commitments from milk banks in the US, Britain, Canada and samples from Dr Powell’s lab.
According to Richard Bozzato, a senior health adviser at MaRS Discovery District, Lactiga’s treatment would come up with a “broader spectrum of potential effectiveness” in the continuous fight against Covid variants.
The human milk secrets
Apparently, human breast milk contains some polyclonal antibodies that are naturally adaptable and can fight many sites on a virus, something similar to a spike protein. The antibodies are also highly stable. Bozzato adds:
“This material can be stockpiled for months, possibly even years, and used in acute situations.”
Who would get the treatment?
Dr Powell explained that Lactiga would first target people who are at higher risk for developing severe diseases. Those who haven’t yet developed any serious infection might also benefit from the upcoming treatment.
Antibody treatments are now essential to help control the harm from Covid-19 cases that aren’t prevented by any measures or vaccines. We need as many methods and strategies as possible to protect everyone from Covid-19 for a long time.
However, if the novel treatment proves efficient, it could also help us deal with other sensitive infections. The research continues as researchers still need to figure more things out.
