Breastfeeding and Meningitis Protection

[lovingmommyhood]

I couldn't really come up with a great title, I apologize. I wanted to ask this here because it's really more of a VAX question than a BF'ing one. My DS2 was BF for one year. I'm now faced with whether or not to get him his Hib vaccinations. I was reading through the archives on here and several times I saw "well, if you bf your child has protection from meningitis" or something to that effect.

I'm now wondering, does my child still have any protection from his year of bf'ing or do you have to be currently bf'ing for that benefit? I obviously know that bf'ing continues to benefit the child for however long it is done but do the benefits end when you stop bf'ing or do they continue on throughout childhood?

[mamakay]

Hib is the only one that's really been studied much to my knowledge, but I know with that one, they've found that the protective effect lasts long after breastfeeding stops, for reasons that aren't entirely clear.

I'll try to find a link or two...

[mamakay]

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi...1999.tb01299.x

Convincing studies demonstrate significant protection during breastfeeding against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, otitis media, bacteraemia, bacterial meningitis, botulism, urinary tract infections and necrotizing enterocolitis. There is also good evidence for enhanced protection for years after the termination of breastfeeding against Haemophilus influenzae type b infections, otitis media, diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and wheezing bronchitis

[mamakay]

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la.../MDLN.12352801

DISCUSSION: This study indicates the presence of a long lasting enhancing effect of breast-feeding on the antibody response to Hib in children, in particular on IgG2 Hib antibody production. This may result from the content in the milk of IFN-gamma and IFN-gamma-producing cells and possibly other factors, which can support IgG2 antibody production.

[mamakay]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...&dopt=Abstract

DISCUSSION: The association of decreased risk for invasive HI infection and long duration of breastfeeding was persisting beyond the period of breastfeeding itself. This finding supports the hypothesis of a long-lasting protective effect of breastfeeding on the risk for invasive HI infection.

I don't think any of the other types of bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis have been studied in this way, but I bet it's the same for some, most, or all of them.

[lovingmommyhood]

Thank you so much mamakay. That gives me a lot more confidence. I appreciate the time you took to find those!!

[Plummeting]

I don't know if the others have been studied long term like that or not, but there have been studies on the protective effect of breast milk against pneumococcal and meningococcal bacteria. I would imagine if breast milk provides the same or similar protection from the other bacteria, then the effect of breastfeeding would probably continue in the same or a similar manner after you were no longer nursing. The studies I found are in the thread about Men C that's currently on the second page of this forum.

[3kidsclmr]

Wow... I was completely unaware that breastfeeding protected from so much. I mean, I knew it was good, but this really helps me to feel so much better about having decided not to vax my youngest. I wish I'd had this info. with DS#2. I decided to go with the hib and prevnar vaccines with him because the pedi scared the heck out of me. I was not aware that this site existed at that time... I didn't have a lot of support.