Exclusive Breast-feeding Prevents HIV Spread

A study tracking 2000 infants in Zimbabweshowed that mothers who are HIV-positiveare less likely to transmit AIDS to theirbabies if they breast-feed exclusively ratherthan combining breast-feeding with a diet ofanimal milk and solids. Researchers gathereddata on the babies'diets and the rateof AIDS infection from birth until age 2. Theyfound that those babies who were fed onlybreast milk were 3 times less likely to die.They also found that not introducing solidsuntil around 3 months would contribute to alower incidence of AIDS infection. JohnsHopkins University Associate ProfessorJean Humphrey said that these findingswere significant because many Africanmothers are not able to find a safe, reliablemilk substitute for their babies.