Breastfeeding protects children from infection with long-term protection
A team of African scientists has revealed that protection of immunity transmitted through breast milk may last longer than expected.
Tests conducted in mice found that mothers who recover from a problem can transmit their immunity through breast milk with long-term effects.
The researchers said in a study in mice that in one case, a small mouse protected from the infection of worms throughout his life.
However, they did not say the discovery was a substitute for vaccines and suggested instead that it could be used to improve vaccines in the future.
The researchers said at the University of Cape Town, South Africa that the immunity was transferred from the mother in different cells than originally expected, where the resistance was passed against the disease in white blood cells and not in the antibodies, "destructive proteins of bacteria and viruses" – as previously thought.
While immunization was believed to continue for a period of breastfeeding only to protect newborns, the benefits lasted much longer in mice in the study.
"To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that prenatal infection can transmit lifelong immunity to infants," said Dr. William Horsnell, a leading researcher.
The research was published in a magazine Science Advances.
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