Breastfeeding and risk for fever after immunization

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Immunology
• Public Health

Background:

• Fever is a common adverse reaction following routine infant immunizations.
• Understanding factors that mitigate post-vaccination fever is crucial for vaccine acceptance and infant well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between breastfeeding and the incidence of fever in infants after receiving routine immunizations.
• To quantify the risk reduction for fever conferred by different breastfeeding statuses.

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study involving 450 infants undergoing routine vaccinations.
• Mothers recorded infant temperatures for 3 days post-vaccination.
• Multivariate analyses adjusted for vaccine dose, maternal education, smoking, and household size.

Main Results:

• Fever incidence was lower in breastfed infants (25% exclusively, 31% partially) compared to non-breastfed infants (53%).
• Exclusively and partially breastfed infants had a significantly reduced relative risk of fever (0.46 and 0.58, respectively).
• The protective effect of breastfeeding persisted after adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Conclusions:

• Breastfeeding is associated with a decreased incidence of fever post-immunization.
• These findings support breastfeeding as a protective measure against common vaccine side effects.
• Encouraging breastfeeding may improve infant comfort and parental confidence in vaccination schedules.