It can provide the child with life-long protection against breast milk

So far, it has been widely believed that transferring immunity to disease to the baby by breastfeeding provides protection only during breastfeeding, and if breastfeeding is completed, protection is over. The practitioners believed that immunity was introduced into the child's body by the neutralization of the mammalian proteins, bacteria and viruses.

However, in a study published in Sciences Advances, researchers found that the transfer of immunity is long-term, goes beyond breastfeeding, and protection is provided by the transfer of immune cells, completely independent of antibodies.

In their mice experiments, it was found that the breast-fed mammal, whose mother had a worm infection before pregnancy, had been protected from this infection throughout her life.
In addition, this effect is passed on to the offspring by the cells in the breast milk and not by proteins or antibodies.
This study has shown that if a mother undergoes a global infection before her pregnancy, her little ones provide immunity to this infection through long-term breastfeeding - read in a paper by Birmingham University.

"Immunotransfer transfer from mother to child is a very important source of protection against infections in infancy through breastfeeding. First, we have shown that pre-pregnancy infection can give the child life-long immunity. William Horsnell, Researcher, Institute of Microbiology, University of Birmingham.

"We are particularly interested in how our discovery can help mothers to develop vaccines that will provide the child with longer-term protection. giving mother a long-term immunity to the child, "Professor Adam Cunningham quoted.

(Source: marmalade.co.uk; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)