Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2021 - 23

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Cocooning
While current strains of SARS-CoV2 rarely make infants severely
ill, viral variants have the potential to cause illness. That and this
virus can cause symptoms in neonates, and things like fever equate
to a medical emergency.
So not preventing viral transmission is the most effective strategy
to protect infants. Prevention methods include avoiding public places,
hand washing and masking.
Another effective strategy involves vaccine. While newborns
are not able to get many vaccines - COVID-19 included - a great
strategy for infants is cocooning. Cocooning means caretakers are
vaccinated against viruses that can make infants sick, making a
protective environment around baby.
However, more and more information is signaling that the
COVID-19 vaccine is safe in pregnancy. The virus is not known
to be spread via chest milk. On the contrary, chest feeding and
using chest milk may be helpful in the spread of antibodies
to protect infants and is always encouraged. So pregnant parents,
chest feeding parents, and any direct caregivers should
be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccine to protect the baby.
Resources:
https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
https://services.aap.org/en/
pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/
https://brief19.com/
https://services.aap.org/en/pages/podcast/
https://www.pediacast.org/listen-now/
https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/newborn-news-46023
Dr. Joanna J. Parga-Belinkie, MD, FAAP, is attending neonatologist
at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and
member, Pennsylvania chapter, the American Academy of Pediatrics.
She is also co-host of " Pediatrics on Call " by the American Academy of
Pediatrics, aap.org/podcast.
More information
There are many information sources for families, but not all are
evidence-based. Consider these to help families stay up to date on
neonatal care. Some may be geared towards nonmedical people, but
pediatricians can help families decode the medical jargon at their
infant visits. *
Summer 2021 : Philadelphia Medicine 23

http://www.philamedsoc.org https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center https://services.aap.org/en/ https://www.brief19.com/ https://services.aap.org/en/pages/podcast/ https://www.pediacast.org/listen-now/ https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/newborn-news-46023 http://www.aap.org/podcast

Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2021