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Protective effect of exclusive breastfeeding against hand, foot and mouth disease

Hualiang Lin1, Limei Sun2, Jinyan Lin3

  • 1Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, 511430, China. linhualiang2002@163.com.

BMC Infectious Diseases
|December 5, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Exclusive breastfeeding offers protection against hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in young children. This study found that exclusive breastfeeding significantly reduced the risk of HFMD in children up to 28 months old.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Exclusive breastfeeding provides natural immunity to infants against various infectious agents.
  • Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is an emerging infectious disease affecting children in China.
  • The protective role of exclusive breastfeeding against HFMD requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the protective effect of exclusive breastfeeding on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in children.
  • To assess the association between exclusive breastfeeding and HFMD occurrence in a Chinese population.

Main Methods:

  • A community-based case-control study was conducted in Guangdong Province, China.
  • Participants included children aged 4 years or younger, with cases of newly diagnosed HFMD and controls of healthy children.
  • Unconditional logistic regression analysis was employed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for exclusive breastfeeding, adjusting for confounding factors.

Main Results:

  • The study analyzed 316 cases and 566 controls.
  • Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months showed a significant protective effect against HFMD (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.47-0.85).
  • This protective effect was observed to last until 28 months of age.

Conclusions:

  • Exclusive breastfeeding demonstrates a potential protective effect against hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) infection.
  • The findings suggest that exclusive breastfeeding is beneficial for children up to 28 months of age in preventing HFMD.
Abstract

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