First of all well said Kathy. But do you know what really gets my goat, is
that there are enough parents who do not want their kids immunised because
it's "dangerous" and thus believe they are doing the right thing for their
child, but do they breastfeed??????

Plus:
Pat Young wrote:"And someone can correct me if I'm not right, but I believe
that BF babies
get better levels of immunity from immunizations than bottle fed babies."

I believe that Hanson(?) has a review article on the mother-infant immune
relationship during pregnancy and lactation where he refers to studies that
show that bf babies have 'stronger' immune responses to immunisations.

Here it is:

Acta Paediatr Suppl 1999 Aug;88(430):42-6
Human milk and host defence: immediate and long-term effects.
Hanson LA.
Department of Clinical Immunology, Goteborg University, Sweden.
[log in to unmask]
Convincing studies demonstrate significant protection during breastfeeding
against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, otitis media, bacteraemia,
bacterial meningitis, botulism, urinary tract infections and necrotizing
enterocolitis. There is also good evidence for enhanced protection for years
after the termination of breastfeeding against Haemophilus influenzae type b
infections, otitis media, diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and
wheezing bronchitis. In some reports breastfeeding has also improved vaccine
responses. Several studies show that milk may actively stimulate the immune
system of the offspring via transfer of anti-idiotypic antibodies and
lymphocytes. This may explain why breastfeeding diminishes the risk of
developing coeliac disease. Some investigations suggest that there may also
be a similar effect on allergic diseases and autoimmune diseases, as well as
inflammatory bowel diseases and certain tumours. This needs to be confirmed.

Sara Bernard
The Netherlands

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