I'm still struggling to understand the development of the child's immune
system.  A few months ago Dr. Zimmer and I exchanged some discussion of
"when the child's immune system becomes mature" -- I cited some studies
suggesting 6 years of age (for some factors).  Now today I read in the
following in TIME Magazine, in a story about babies born with HIV virus who
later show no traces of the virus in their system (not just antibodies, but
actual virus was detected when they were young):

"A newborn's immune system isn't fully functional until around 18 months...."

Now, I would love to be able to cite this to doctors who claim that
immunities in breast milk are insignificant after "X" amount of time
(usually well under one year).  Anyone know where this 18 month figure might
come from, or what portions of the immune system they might be referring to?

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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352