Exclusive Breastfeeding and Clinical Malaria Risk in 6-Month-Old Infants: A Cross-Sectional Study from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Oct 5;95(4):827-830. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0011. Epub 2016 Aug 22.

Abstract

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life. However, the effect of EBF on malaria risk remains unclear. In the present study, 137 EBF infants and 358 non-EBF infants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo were assessed for fever and malaria infections by polymerase chain reaction, at 6 months of age. EBF was associated with a reduced risk of clinical malaria (odds ratio = 0.13; 95% confidence interval = 0.00-0.80), suggesting a protective effect of EBF against malaria.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antimalarials / therapeutic use
  • Breast Feeding*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Fever
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Malaria / epidemiology
  • Malaria / parasitology
  • Malaria / prevention & control*
  • Male
  • Mosquito Nets
  • Parasitemia
  • Plasmodium / drug effects
  • Plasmodium / genetics
  • Plasmodium / isolation & purification*
  • Risk
  • World Health Organization
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antimalarials