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FAMILY WELLNESS

Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2010 Oct;29(10):919-23.
Inhibitory effect of breast milk on infectivity of live oral rotavirus vaccines.

Source: National Centers for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

BACKGROUND: Live oral rotavirus vaccines have been less… “effective” … among children in poor developing countries compared with middle income and industrialized countries for reasons that are not yet completely understood. We assessed whether the neutralizing activity of breast milk could lower the… “effect”…of vaccine virus and explain this difference..

METHODS: Breast milk samples were collected from mothers who were breast-feeding infants 4 to 29 weeks of age …in India …Vietnam… South Korea… and the United States... We examined breast milk for “immune components that will defend against the vaccine…”

FINDINGS: Breast milk from Indian women had the highest protection against all 3 vaccine strains, while lower but comparable …”protection” … were detected in breast milk from Korean and Vietnamese women, and the lowest titers were seen in American women…

INTERPRETATION:  The lower … efficacy of vaccines in poor developing countries could be explained, in part, by higher… neutralizing “protective” activity in breast milk consumed by their infants at the time of immunization that could effectively reduce the potency of the vaccine. Strategies to overcome this negative effect, such as delaying breast-feeding at the time of immunization, should be evaluated.
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Dr. Tarek’s Comments:
To support their conclusion, I also noticed that breathing air helps the body stay healthy and potentially help boost immune system function. That also might reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. So I always recommend that children who get immunized should not breathe till they are at least 16 yrs old to make their vaccines more effective. Now I will add that they should not eat either.

On a serious note: Researchers noted that vaccines in poor countries do not work as good as in developed countries. This study finds that the moms in poor countries (who probably have not been immunized) have breast milk with high antibody levels. That helps “fight off” the immunization and the baby’s immune system does not react to the vaccines and does not learn much. So the effectiveness of the vaccine is lowered. That is what breast milk should do; protect the baby. But instead of letting the body do what it is designed to do, or at least delay the immunization, they want to delay breast feeding so the vaccines works better. Not considering the big problems of nutrient content, quality of food, hygiene and all the other mom and baby benefits to breast feeding: pulling the baby from breast milk (immune support) so vaccines, that possibly protect from a handful of disease, could work better, leaves the baby exposed to a gazillion other bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoas, aliens and monsters.

Please note that the baby’s immune system is not developed to almost adult level until a year and a half (18 months).