Fungal contamination in human milk and in the anatomic sites of breastfeeding mothers and infants

Bacterial or fungal infections might produce a clinical feature of mastitis, which is one of the main causes of precocious breast-feeding discontinuity. In addition, when the potentially pathogenic microorganisms as yeast of Candida genera were in high counting in the intestine, might cause dysbiosis. This study aimed detecting and identifying fungi in human milk and anatomical sites of breast-feeding women and infants who were enrolled at Human Milk Bank of the Institute Fernandes Figueira. The virulence of the yeast isolates was evaluated by means of proteolytic activity tests. Eight-one percent of 64 analyzed samples showed positive results to fungi, with a highest prevalence of Candida albicans (73%) followed by C. parapsilosis complex (15.4%). Similar profiles were found in samples of milk, of breasts and of infants mouth cavity, suggesting a correlation between breast-feeding mothers and infants cutaneous infections with the ingested milk. The virulence of the isolated Candida was determined by the proteolytic activity test. All of the isolates (100%) were strongly positive, indicating a high degree of infectivity. The high prevalence of C. albicans in samples collected from breasts, mouth cavity and milk is a crucial risk factor for the infants health.