Just did a search on the web for info on the Lancet article which
supposedly shows that babies do better with exclusive
breastfeeding compared to mixed feeds and that exclusive bf is
comparable to formula feeding as far as HIV transmission is
concerned.
Could not access the original from Lancet (will try again tomorrow)
but an abstract on one of the AIDS sites (AEGIS) seems to
contradict completely what I read previously on Lactnet.
From the abstract:
"The HIV transmission rate was 39% in
those exclusively breastfed, 24% in those fed exclusively on
formula and 32% in those receiving mixed
feeding [relative risk RR), 7.39; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.67-
32.6 between the exclusive breast
and formula only groups]. There was a stepwise increase in the
transmission rate with duration of
exclusive breastfeeding of 1, 2 and 3 months (45%, 64%, and 75%,
respectively). Of the infected infants,
seven (50%) exclusively breastfed, 13 (51%) of those on mixed
feeds and none on formula only
developed AIDS; exclusively breastfed infants had a slower rate of
progression to AIDS (mean age, 7.5
months versus 5.0 months, P = 0.2242) than those on mixed
feeds. Mortality (which occurred in the
infected infants only) was 19% in the exclusively breastfed infants;
13% in those on mixed feeds and
0% in those exclusively formula-fed. The frequency of failure to
thrive and episodes of diarrhoea and
pneumonia were not significantly different between the three groups
in both the infected and
non-infected infants. CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive breastfeeding by
HIV-infected women does not appear
to protect their infants against common childhood illnesses and
failure to thrive, nor does it significantly
delay progression to AIDS. The implication of the trend towards
differential mortality rates according to
feeding groups is uncertain and requires further investigation."
Can anyone elaborate on this? This seems to support the claim
that no breastfeeding is best for the babies of mothers infected with
HIV, or am I completely missing something?
Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, LLLL, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester) USA
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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