>If a mother had chicken pox when she was a  child  and now has  breastfed
>her infant, does she pass on any antibodies to protect her infant  child
>who now has been exposed to chicken pox?
>I would think the infant may get the chicken pox but perhaps a mild case?
>The infant is 4 months old.
>TIA
>Jan Aken RN IBCLC

Jan, this is very similar to what happened to me when I was feeding my
second baby. I have had chicken pox as a child. My firstborn got chicken
pox, picked up at kindergarten, and my baby got no more than half a dozen
spots, and wasn't sick at all. Mind you, the previously breastfed older one
didn't get very sick either, just more spots though. My daughter (the baby
here) has been in contact with chicken pox nearly every year since (she is
now 10 years old) and she has never caught it, so I presume that case of
the disease she had while being breastfed was enough to immunise her.

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Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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