Dear Debbie,
       You ask if mothers who were vaccinated against smallpox are passing
those antibodies on to their babies.  Based on my own personal experience, (I
know, n=1) I don't think you can make that assumption.  I had chicken pox as a
young child (the real disease--no vaccines available then).  When my second
child was 8 months old, she was still totally breastfed.  Her brother got the
chicken pox (never knew from where), and I called the pediatrician to ask if I
should be concerned about Sarah.  I was told that since I was totally
breastfeeding and since I had already had the disease, Sarah either shouldn't get it at
all, or should have a really light case of it.  Well, two weeks later, Sarah
started breaking out with it.  She ended up having a much worse case than her
brother.  She had it from the top of her head to between her toes.  I tried
counting blisters, but lost count after 50, and this was only on her belly and
back--hadn't even gotten to limbs yet!  The breastfeeding did keep her more
comfortable though.  Whereas her brother had been truly miserable, Sarah acted
like there was nothing wrong with her.  I attribute her lack of itchiness to
breastmilk.  To make matters even more confusing, when she was 15 years old, she
got the chicken pox a second time!
       Dee

Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA

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