Lesley:  On Feb. 5, you asked why antibodies to HIV are not protective
when passed through breastmilk.  HIV appears to be a type of virus to
which the antibodies a person makes are not necessarily protective
against it.  Consider the fact that a person who has been infected can
have positive antibodies as a marker of infection, but continue to have
destruction of his/her CD4 cells and increasing amounts of HIV virus in
his/her system.  Thus, the person can go for years showing HIV antibodies
and his/her condition can continue to deteriorate until they get AIDS.
Hope this clarifies the issue a little.  Alicia.  [log in to unmask]