Immunity through breastfeeding

[Louisep]

Is it true that breastfeeding mothers only confer immunity to diseases to their child if they themselves have had exposure to the disease (not through a vaccine?).

Thanks.

[GoBecGo]

I was told (by a doctor, though to me also an uncle, so make of that what you will) that the mother provides any antibodies she has in reaction to any disease she is exposed to. So if you are vaccinated and meet a person with measles, you get the antibodies your body made in response to the vaccination in your blood/milk. Some people are NOT immune after a vaccine, and those people will NOT make any antibodies.

The difficulty, he told me, is if babe is away from mama a lot and BABY is exposed to an infection but mama is not then mama won't make antibodies in time to prevent baby getting infected, BUT she will make them as soon as baby is ill enough to be infectious, which usually vastly reduces symptoms/illness duration in baby.

[ema-adama]

Which disease are you thinking of?

[Louisep]

I'm just wondering how bfing and immunity work for all diseases. It's theoretical for me now as ds weaned at 14 months (immunity is only provided while bfing right?)

I was reading the MMR archives and someone wrote that because we get the measles vax, mothers do not give their babies immunity to measles through bfing so young babies are very susceptible. Is this true? Someone else wrote that immunity is transfered through the placenta - true?

Thanks!

[GoBecGo]

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/j...TRY=1&SRETRY=0

That article says that there are measles antibodies in breastmilk whether mum was infected or vaccinated but that they decline enough that after 6 months passive immunity is no longer effective and child should be vaccinated.

[ema-adama]

If we are talking about measles, there is this:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi...26?cookieSet=1

Well‐documented determinants of the level of antibody to measles virus in pregnant women are prior measles exposure and vaccination history. It has been observed in several developed countries that women with natural exposure to measles have significantly higher levels of antibody to measles virus than do those who are vaccinated.

Another variable of interest is the boosting effect of repeated exposures to measles, as this effect could imply that there are sustained high levels of antibody to measles virus in pregnant women living in areas of high endemicity. The degree and long‐term duration of the boosting effect from repeated exposures were first studied by Krugman et al.

And another source:
http://cvi.asm.org/cgi/content/full/15/12/1845

However, measles vaccination impacts the duration of protection afforded by transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies: vaccination-induced maternal antibodies disappear faster than disease-induced antibodies.

Breastfeeding does not provide measles antibodies, but it does support the developing immune system of the baby, and so offers a non specific protection against disease in general.

[heathergirl67]

From what I understand (from an immunologist) your body usually doesn't know where the disease came from: a vaccine or a disease. The parts of the virus that your body recognizes and builds an immunity against are present in the disease and the vaccine. That's what makes them effective. Again, that's what I've heard from someone who works in the field. She said that's how they work. HTH!

[ema-adama]

I personally prefer to see the information an expert is basing their opinion on, rather than take their opinion at face value.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by heathergirl67

From what I understand (from an immunologist) your body usually doesn't know where the disease came from: a vaccine or a disease. The parts of the virus that your body recognizes and builds an immunity against are present in the disease and the vaccine. That's what makes them effective. Again, that's what I've heard from someone who works in the field. She said that's how they work. HTH!

if this were true than vaccine induced immunity would offer lifetime protection as natural immunity does.....yet it doesn't. Not to mention your body certainly knows the difference between HOW the disease is introduced in the first place. (ie natural vs injected.)

[heathergirl67]

Originally Posted by Marnica

if this were true than vaccine induced immunity would offer lifetime protection as natural immunity does.....yet it doesn't. Not to mention your body certainly knows the difference between HOW the disease is introduced in the first place. (ie natural vs injected.)

When you say natural immunity, do you mean immunity that you're born with or immunity that you get from getting the disease? Getting the disease does NOT guarantee you immunity from getting it again. Same with vaccines. For some it does, for others it doesn't.

[heathergirl67]

Originally Posted by ema-adama

I personally prefer to see the information an expert is basing their opinion on, rather than take their opinion at face value.

Me too, even though she's someone I trust. That's why I added the info that it wasn't something I'd looked up myself. Call me untrusting, skeptical, etc... it just makes feel better if I've looked at the info for myself.

[tatsu15]

I also heard if mother had chickenpox she can pass the antibodies to her baby, but I cannot remember where I read that darn! But I did find an interesting article on chickenpox vaccine: http://www.compassionatesouls.com/chickenpox.html