Coronavirus: The best vaccines for passing on protective antibodies to newborn babies

Long Covid: Dr Sara Kayat discusses impact on children

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Researchers from Amsterdam have been looking into which vaccines transmit their antibodies through breast milk most effectively.

They have concluded mothers should have one of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna, as they are the best jabs to have in order to pass on antibodies through their breast milk.

Fortunately, this could be good news for mothers in UK where the Pfizer jab has been widely administered along with the Moderna vaccine.

According to the study around 96 percent of women who received two doses of the mRNA vaccine had detectable antibodies in their breast milk.

This compares to only 48 percent of mother’s who had the AstraZeneca jab.

The research concluded: “An mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine is the optimal choice for lactating women when they want to transfer breast milk to their infants.”

Whether the same applies after three doses of the vaccine is not yet known.

Millions of Britons have received their booster since its roll-out late last year in response to the rise of the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, there have been some new developments with regard to the rise of Omicron.

Scientists have found it survives for longer on surfaces than the original variant of Covid-19.

While the previous variant survived for no longer than 30 minutes, Omicron survives for just under an hour.

Although Covid-19 is predominantly transmitted through the air, scientists said their results highlight: “the importance of hand hygiene and cleaning on surfaces that are regularly touched by different persons”.

Although Omicron is no longer the dominant variant in the UK, currently it is BA.2, these study results raise awareness of the continued importance of cleanliness in spaces where multiple people are using the same surface.

In recent weeks the scientific community has become aware of a new variant of Covid-19 known as Deltacron.

Deltacron is known as a recombinant variant; this means it is a combination of two variants.

In this case, Delta and Omicron.

The original concern with Deltacron was that it would cause the severe illness of Delta with the transmissibility of Omicron.

So far, fears of this occurring have not been borne out and scientists are positive.

Recently the UK government took the decision to lift the remaining Covid restrictions in the UK, including the legal requirement to self-isolate if a person tests positive.

As a result, cases are set to rise in the coming weeks as the effect of the lack of restrictions becomes reflected in the data.

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