Breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic: Suggestions on behalf of woman study group of AMD.

SARS-Cov2 infection has recently spread to Italy with important consequences on pregnancy management, mother and child health and mother-child contact. Breastfeeding improves the health of mother and child and reduces risk of neonatal infection with other pathogens that are likely to cause serious illness. To date no evidence confirmed COVID-19 vertical transmission from infected pregnant mother to their fetus. However it is well known that an infected mother can transmit the COVID-19 virus through respiratory droplets during breastfeeding or intimate contact. Thus, the mothers with known or suspected COVID-19 should adhere to standard and contact precautions during breastfeeding. Woman Study Group of AMD, after reviewing current knowledge about COVID-19 vertical transmission and the compatibility of breastfeeding in COVID-19 mother, the available recommendations from Health Care Organizations and main experts opinions, issued the following suggestions on breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic, addressed both to mothers with and without diabetes. It should be considered that following suggestions may change in the future when more evidence is acquired regarding SARS-Cov2 infection.

Gender-Disparities in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes: More Than a Quality of Care Issue. A Cross-Sectional Observational Study from the AMD Annals Initiative.

We evaluated gender-differences in quality of type 1 diabetes (T1DM) care. Starting from electronic medical records of 300 centers, 5 process indicators, 3 favorable and 6 unfavorable intermediate outcomes, 6 treatment intensity/appropriateness measures and an overall quality score were measured. The likelihood of women vs. men (reference class) to be monitored, to reach outcomes, or to be treated has been investigated through multilevel logistic regression analyses; results are expressed as Odd Ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). The inter-center variability in the achievement of the unfavorable outcomes was also investigated. Overall, 28,802 subjects were analyzed (45.5% women). Women and men had similar age (44.5±16.0 vs. 45.0±17.0 years) and diabetes duration (18.3±13.0 vs. 18.8±13.0 years). No between-gender differences were found in process indicators. As for intermediate outcomes, women showed 33% higher likelihood of having HbA1c ≥8.0% (OR = 1.33; 95%CI: 1.25-1.43), 29% lower risk of blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg (OR = 0.71; 95%CI: 0.65-0.77) and 27% lower risk of micro/macroalbuminuria (OR = 0.73; 95%CI: 0.65-0.81) than men, while BMI, LDL-c and GFR did not significantly differ; treatment intensity/appropriateness was not systematically different between genders; overall quality score was similar in men and women. Consistently across centers a larger proportion of women than men had HbA1c ≥8.0%, while a smaller proportion had BP ≥140/90 mmHg. No gender-disparities were found in process measures and improvements are required in both genders. The systematic worse metabolic control in women and worse blood pressure in men suggest that pathophysiologic differences rather than the care provided might explain these differences.