Is Tecovirimat safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Tecovirimat. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. A women was diagnosed with Mpox after viral DNA was detected in maternal blood, urine, breastmilk, vaginal, pharyngeal, and lesion swabs. Tecovirimat was given at a dosage of 600 mg twice daily for 14 days. Breast milk samples were obtained by manual expression before a dose, and 3, 5, and 7 hours after the dose on day 13 of treatment. The predose concentration was used as the 12-hour result and AUC 0-12 of tecovirimat was calculated by the trapezoidal method. The predose concentration was 99.1 mcg/L, with a peak concentration of 227.2 mcg/L occurring at 7 hours after the dose. Using the AUC 0 12 of 2028 hours per ng/mL, a mean value of 169 mcg/L was calculated, which would result in a daily infant dosage of 50.7 mcg/kg daily. Assuming a maternal weight of 70 kg, the relative infant dosage would be 0.99%.[ 2 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Tecovirimat is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.