Experts from the Dr. Gustavo Aldereguía Lima Hospital (GAL), in Cienfuegos, together with the Finlay Vaccine Institute, are advancing in a study whose preliminary results prove the transfer of antibodies against SARS CoV-2 to newborns of infected and immunized mothers.
Dr. Arturo Pérez de Villamil, a Second Degree specialist in Neonatology and in charge of the investigation at the GAL, explained to the Cuban News Agency that for the selection of the participants they first took into account women infected with the virus and in a second moment included those vaccinated, even with the booster dose, and the descendants of the participants.
He indicated that for this they take samples of blood from the newborn’s umbilical cord and from the complementary analyzes performed on the mother, as well as from breast milk after 24 hours of birth and then send them to the Finlay laboratories.
With the first observations, the consulting professor pointed out, we saw the transfer of immunoglobulin G (IgG) to the fetus, transferred through the placenta during pregnancy and through the maternal fluid.
He stressed that the objective is to check how long antibody titers are maintained, as well as their duration in breast milk.
We managed to immunize minors from two to 18 years old, but we still have the group of children up to two years of age, hence the relevance of the research, said the specialist.
To date we have about 60 registered cases, but we will continue to advance until we reach the number of necessary participants according to the statistical model, which is also under study, added Pérez de Villamil.
It remains for us to check, between four and six months, if those defenses absorbed from the mother are preserved in the newborn and if the breast milk still maintains the antibodies in that period, he announced.
Bárbara Elizabeth Alemán and her baby Javier Junior, born on March 9, were included in the investigation because the mother received Abdala’s complete chart during pregnancy.
For this mother, the opportunity is very beneficial, since it will allow her to know to what extent her son has obtained defenses and how prepared he would be to face a possible infection by COVID-19, he said.
I trust a lot in Cuban science, that’s why I agreed to intervene, it will be fruitful for my little one and that makes me feel safe, he commented.
Several international studies show, in the same way, the transfer of antibodies from vaccinated mothers to newborns.
This is reflected in research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, where they studied 131 women of reproductive age, inoculated with Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, and this proved the induced immunity in babies.
Cienfuegos has a long tradition of scientific collaboration with the Finlay Institute, from clinical trials and intervention of the pneumococcal vaccine to the most recent ones with Soberana Centro and Soberana Plus Pediatría, to test the efficacy of these immunogens in confronting the new coronavirus.
