have any of you read or heard of Good Germs Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs, (c)2007? 
the book is about antibiotic resistance and about the "hygiene hypothesis" (that increases in allergies, inflammatory bowel diseases, and autoimmune disorders, is related to oversanitation and lack of exposure to symbiotic microbes). the whole book is filled with fascinating (sometimes scary) information,
    but part II, "life on man" includes discussions about vaginal birth colonizing the newborn with its mother's intestinal flora, especially lactobacilli (caesarian-born baby's fecal bacteria contains "a more random assortment of microbes from the hands of the birth attendants and the general hospital environment"), bifidobacteria from breastmilk in the newborn's mouth, how mother's exposure to antibiotics makes the baby vulnerable to thrush.... 

    in a discussion of bifidobacteria boosting the level of baby's protective antibodies that "target not only problematic bacteria but many kinds of diarrhea-inducing gastrointestinal viruses" I did cringe at the way this was worded: "....in third world countries with poor sanitation, the mortality rates of breast-fed infants are as much as six times lower than that of formula-fed babies. even in the the united states, where infant deaths from diarrheal disease remain rare, epidemiologists find as much as a 20 percent highter survival rate in breast-fed vs formula-fed babies during the first six months of life...."  **that needs to be weissingerized!!**

    otherwise, what an amazing book! 
table of contents: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0809050633/ref=sib_dp_pop_ff?ie=UTF8&p=S002#reader-link

~microbiology geek vicki hayes rn ibclc in brunswick ga usa, who has no financial interest in this book, but was happy to have some great reading after finishing the 3rd harry potter book and unable to get to the bookstore for the 4th yet :-/


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