They have found SIgA antibodies specific to rubella and polio in mothers who received those vaccines. So presumably breastfeeding a baby with those antibodies present in the milk should confer a passive immunity to the baby for those viruses. That would wear off because it is not the babies immune system that recognized the  virus and produced the antibodies but the mothers. So those babies still need to be immunized against rubella and polio later on. If the mother had rubella or polio my understanding is that she would still pass the same antibodies to the baby that she does with the vaccine. One would assume that a similar situation would exist with flu virus though I don't know that they have tested for it. What I did read is that this year or last year, can't remember which, they were able to show that pregnant women who received flu vaccines did indeed pass a passive immunity to the flu for which they had been vaccinated to their baby.

Kathy Lilleskov RN IBCLC

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