For Immediate Release
Monkeypox Prevention and Treatment While Nursing
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, September 20, 2022—Although none of the preventative or therapeutic agents used in monkeypox have been fully studied in nursing mothers, Philip Anderson, PharmD, from the University of California, San Diego, presents a broad practical recommendation for the treatment and prevention of monkeypox in nursing mothers in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Breastfeeding Medicine. Click here to read the article now.
Dr. Anderson bases his recommendations on the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), product labeling, and on up-to-date principles of pharmacology and infectious disease regarding possible risks to the nursing infant and the feeding of pumped human breast milk to the infant.
Individuals with monkeypox are recommended not to breastfeed their infant because of the risk of passing the virus to the child through direct contact. It may be possible to provide pumped milk to the infant if no lesions are near the breast and sanitary precautions are taken.
Prevention for monkeypox with the monkeypox vaccine or with vaccinia immune globulin appears to be a low risk for harm to nursing infants. In mothers who are vaccinated with the smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine, breastfeeding and feeding of pumped milk is contraindicated until the vaccination scab has separated from the vaccination site. For treatment of monkeypox, the antiviral of choice is tecovirimat, which is also likely to be a low risk for nursing infants.
“Dr. Anderson provides a much-needed set of up-to-date practical guidelines for managing monkeypox disease in mother-infant dyads,” says Arthur I. Eidelman, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine, “in particular for mothers who wish to provide their breastmilk to their offspring.”
About the Journal
Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published 10 times per year in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website.
About the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) is a worldwide organization of medical doctors dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding. Our mission is to unite members of the various medical specialties with this common purpose. For more than 20 years, ABM has been bringing doctors together to provide evidence-based solutions to the challenges facing breastfeeding across the globe. A vast body of research has demonstrated significant nutritional, physiological, and psychological benefits for both mothers and children that last well beyond infancy. But while breastfeeding is the foundation of a lifetime of health and well-being, clinical practice lags behind scientific evidence. By building on our legacy of research into this field and sharing it with the broader medical community, we can overcome barriers, influence health policies, and change behaviors.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. A complete list of the firm's more than 100 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publisher’s website.