Department of Paediatrics, University of Crete, POB 2208, Heraklion 710 03, Greece.
Arch Dis Child. 2010 Dec;95(12):1004-8. doi: 10.1136/adc.2009.169912. Epub 2010 Sep 27.
To prospectively investigate the effects of breastfeeding on the frequency and severity of infections in a well-defined infant population with adequate vaccination coverage and healthcare standards.
In a representative sample of 926 infants, successfully followed up for 12 months, feeding mode and all infectious episodes, including acute otitis media (AOM), acute respiratory infection (ARI), gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, conjunctivitis and thrush, were recorded at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of life.
Infants exclusively breastfed for 6 months, as per WHO recommendations, presented with fewer infectious episodes than their partially breastfed or non-breastfed peers and this protective effect persisted after adjustment for potential confounders for ARI (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.92), AOM (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.05) and thrush (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.02 to 1.02). Prolonged exclusive breastfeeding was associated with fewer infectious episodes (r(s)=-0.07, p=0.019) and fewer admissions to hospital for infection (r(s)=-0.06, p=0.037) in the first year of life. Partial breastfeeding was not related to protective effect. Several confounding factors, including parental age and education, ethnicity, presence of other siblings, environmental tobacco smoke exposure and season of birth were demonstrated to have an effect on frequency of infections during infancy.
Findings from this large-scale prospective study in a well-defined infant population with adequate healthcare standards suggest that exclusive breastfeeding contributes to protection against common infections during infancy regarding and lessens the frequency and severity of infectious episodes. Partial breastfeeding did not seem to provide this protective effect.
前瞻性研究在具有充分疫苗接种覆盖率和医疗保健标准的明确婴儿人群中，母乳喂养对感染频率和严重程度的影响。
在一个具有代表性的 926 名婴儿样本中，成功随访了 12 个月，在 1、3、6、9 和 12 个月时记录了喂养方式和所有感染发作，包括急性中耳炎（AOM）、急性呼吸道感染（ARI）、肠胃炎、尿路感染、结膜炎和鹅口疮。
按照世界卫生组织的建议，纯母乳喂养 6 个月的婴儿比部分母乳喂养或非母乳喂养的婴儿感染发作次数更少，这种保护作用在调整 ARI（OR 0.58，95%CI 0.36 至 0.92）、AOM（OR 0.37，95%CI 0.13 至 1.05）和鹅口疮（OR 0.14，95%CI 0.02 至 1.02）的潜在混杂因素后仍然存在。延长纯母乳喂养与婴儿期感染发作次数减少（r(s)=-0.07，p=0.019）和因感染住院次数减少（r(s)=-0.06，p=0.037）有关。部分母乳喂养与保护作用无关。研究还发现，包括父母年龄和教育程度、种族、是否有其他兄弟姐妹、环境烟草暴露和出生季节在内的几个混杂因素对婴儿期感染的频率有影响。
在具有充分医疗保健标准的明确婴儿人群中进行的这项大规模前瞻性研究的结果表明，纯母乳喂养有助于预防婴儿期常见感染，并降低感染发作的频率和严重程度。部分母乳喂养似乎没有提供这种保护作用。
