It would seem to me that if mom is caring for the child anyway, the child
is likely to get 'breathed upon' anyway. I would think the main issue is
viral transfer thru breastmilk. When I see viral meningitis in my practice,
I do not see family clusters of it like strep throat...its not like other
family members get it when one member does. The other members may get
gastroenteritis or flu-like symptoms, but the meninges don't necessary get
inflammed in everyone exposed to that virus. I would say its ok to
breastfeed...though I may not say this in other situations such as LaCrosse
virus encephalitis or obviously bacterial meningitis, depending on the
organism. I would definitely try to search out more info on the latter
circumstances before recommending anything.- Hope this helps-Anne Eglash MD