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Bronchiolitis score similar between breast-fed infants, never breast-fed infants
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No significant association was found between breast-feeding and bronchiolitis severity score or length of hospital stay, according to recent study findings published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Previous studies studies have shown that breast-feeding is associated with lower rates of respiratory infections.
Kecia N. Carroll, MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated 629 infants (median estimated gestational age, 39 weeks) to determine the effect of breast-feeding on lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). There was a history of breast-feeding among 57% of participants. Breast-feeding women were more likely to be older (P<.001) and less likely to be black. Private insurance was more common among patients who were breast-fed as well as a higher median birth weight compared with patients who were never breast-fed.
Kecia N. Carroll
Overall, 72% of patients had a LRTI. Patients with an LRTI were younger (P<.001); had older mothers (P<.05); a higher median gestational age (P<.001); higher sibling number (P<.001); were less likely to be black; and more likely to have private insurance compared with patients with an upper respiratory tract infection (URI).
Seventy percent of patients who were breast-fed had a diagnosis of LRTI compared with 76% of those who were never breast-fed. Compared with patients who were never breast-fed, there was a 36% decrease of having an LRTI than a URI (adjusted OR=0.64; 95% CI, 0.42-0.99) for patients who were breast-fed.
Of the patients with an LRTI, 86% were hospitalized, but no difference was found for hospital length of stay between patients who were breast-fed and those who were never breast-fed. However, patients who were breast-fed tended to have a lower bronchiolitis severity score.
“We conclude that breast-feeding with a minimal duration of 1 week was associated with decreased relative odds of having LRTI versus a URI,” the researchers wrote. “Exclusive breast-feeding is the recommended feeding method within the first 6 months; but partial breast-feeding may provide some protection from LRTI.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by a Thrasher Research Fund Clinical Research Grant. The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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