HIV-1 (subsequently referred to as HIV) infection may be transmitted to the infant during breast-feeding. The risk of transmission varies with stage of maternal infection, duration of breast-feeding, type of breast-feeding (i.e. exclusive or mixed breast-feeding), and breast pathology. Recent studies support the findings of a meta-analysis (Dunn et al. 1992) and indicate that when breast-feedin...

BACKGROUND Exclusive breastfeeding is giving only breast milk to an infant from birth up to six months of age, with the exception of medications and vitamins. For the first six months of life, breast milk alone is the ideal nourishment to meet the nutritional demand of the growing child. Although breastfeeding is a universal practice, in Ethiopia only 52% of children aged less than six months o...

The influence of prolonged breastfeeding on breast-milk alpha tocopherol was assessed in 112 lactating mothers practicing exclusive breast-feeding on term infants. The cross sectional study was carried out between May 1st and 30th, 2005 at the University of Benin/University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City among lactating mothers. Employing the Quaife's method, mean alpha-tocopherol value...

WHO has strongly recommends exclusive breast feeding for at least the first 4 months and if possible the first 6 months of an infant’s life, yet we come across a large number of mothers who have stopped breastfeeding for trivial reasons thereby exposing their infants to increased risk of illnesses, malnutrition and death. 1 As exclusive breast feeding continues to deteriorate in our country wit...

I I M T his is a review of the immunologic activities and protective benefits of human breast milk against infection. It details important concepts bout the developing immunity of infants, bioactive actors and antiinflammatory properties of breast milk, ntestinal microflora in infants, probiotics and prebiotcs, and the dynamic interactive effects of breast milk n the developing infant. Studies ...