I agree with Lisa's post about protective factors in breastmilk and would
likewise encourage those breastfeeding advocates who view breastmilk as just
nutrition or a lifestyle choice in the USA (or other developled countries)
to
visit the LaTrobe website.
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/microbiology/milk.html#Tables
The protective factors of breastmilk against rotavirus in infants is a good
example of why breastfeeding is vital for all countries in the world not
just
the developing nations. Breastmilk is known to protect against rotavirus in
vitro and in vivo.  John Hopkins co-owns one of the patents on the use of
HMFG (human milk fat globule) to inactivate rotavirus.  Note that this
patent
mentions 500 infant deaths per year in the USA directly related to rotavirus
(patent filed in 1995).  Minimizing the benefits of breastfeeding in
developed countries benefits who?  Are we fearful that by giving a parent
the
total information, the parent will not immunize their infant?  Why is it
necessary to have a rotavirus vaccine?  Because we have so many infant
deaths
due to rotavirus despite our modern medicine and safe water.  Would that
death rate improve if infants were exclusively breastfeed and breastfeed for
longer periods of time?  Do we need this particular vaccine? (the Wyeth
rotavirus vaccine was pulled off the market because it caused
intussusception, but other vaccines are being developed--some based on
properties of human milk) Or is the need for this vaccine based on the fact
that parents don't have the facts about the protective factors in
breastmilk?
 Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

Patent # 5505955
Antil-diarrheic product and method of treating rotavirus-associated
infection
Filed in Jan 1995
"Gastroenteritis and diarrhea have been linked to rotavirus infection in a
variety of clinical settings. In many cases the population afflicted by
these
diseases are the very young, the elderly and the immunocompromised. Acute
infectious gastrointestinal diseases, for example, are a major cause of
illness and death in infants and young children throughout the world. In the
developing countries, infectious gastrointestinal diseases are estimated to
cause up to 12,000 deaths per day. Diarrheal disease is also an important
health problem in the developed countries. In the U.S., over 200,000
children
under 5 years of age are hospitalized each year with acute diarrheal
disease.
This results in nearly 880,000 in-patient hospital days, over 500 deaths,
and
almost one billion dollars of in-patient costs per year. "

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