This patent is number 5948613 and is called, "Methods of screening for risk
of cancer using human lactoferrin DNA probe or primer and filed in 1996.  The
assignee is the USA as represented by the Department of Health!!! I hope that
some of you will look at this passage from this patent and reflect on why we
are telling mothers who are hiv positive to not breastfeed.  And why mothers
who are hiv-positive have to fear that if they breastfeed they may lose
custody of their infant.  By the way this isn't the only patent discussing
uses of  human lactoferrin to treat hiv.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

"In the past few years, HIV infection has become a significant health
problem. HIV causes morbidity by crippling the body's defense mechanism and
allowing development of opportunistic infections. Present treatment is less
than ideal and involves treating opportunistic infections as they occur or
inhibiting reverse transcriptase. Human lactoferrin is the natural product of
the human defense machinery and has been given to patients both orally and
intravenously with no side effects. Due to its bacteriocidal, antifungal, and
immunoregulatory activity, administering pharmaceutical acceptable doses of
lactoferrin of the present invention could prove an effective agent to treat
patients with AIDS or patients with neutropenia.

Other possible uses of the human lactoferrin of the present invention include
treatment of lactoferrin in pharmaceutical doses, either orally or
intravenously to patients with skin infections (burn patients),
gastrointestinal bacterial overgrowth syndromes, vaginal infections, septic
shock, and numerous other disorders. "

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html