An August 2011 study found that a copper shield drastically reduced HIV-1 (98%) in breastmilk, laying the groundwork for further development of this device.
In a project that recently received funding from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gadi Borkow, the Chief Medical Scientist at Cupron Inc. and Dr. Chandice Covington, a researcher with the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health and Dean of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center’s Nursing School in the United States, proposed the use of a filter copper-oxide in a breast milk shield. The copper oxide material, also used in surgical masks and eye shields, would inactivate the virus in breast milk, thus reducing the risk of transmission from the mother to the child. An advantage of using copper oxide is that it can inactivate other viruses in breast milk in addition to HIV. In addition the team proposes a discreet device that can be used by mothers without alerting others' as to her HIV status.
Cupron Inc. is an Israeli based company. Testing will occur first in the Cupron Inc. laboratory and then in Kenya.
The August 2011 study may be found here.
The research team members are: Dr. Gadi Borkow (PI), Cupron Scientific (Israel); Dr. Omu Anzala (Co-PI), University of Nairobi School of Medicine (Nairobi, Kenya); Dr. MS Abdullah,(Inv.), Aga Khan Hospital (Nairobi, Kenya); Dr. Chandice Covington (Inv.); and Bibha Gautam, (RA), TTUHSC Perry School of Nursing (Lubbock, TX).
