Such protective effects of breast-feeding have been previously
demonstrated with Giardia. In a study14 conducted
in Mexico, a 5-fold protective effect of exclusive breastfeeding
was demonstrated compared with no breast-feeding
among infants 0–18 months old. An additional hospitalbased
surveillance study17 from Bangladesh reported that
breast-feeding was protective against Giardia infections for
infants up to 6 months of age. However, in another study,
Islam and others18 failed to demonstrate any clear-cut protection
between Giardia infection and the presence of human
milk antibodies. Our study also demonstrated a protective
effect of exclusively breast-feeding on reducing clinical severity
of symptomatic giardiasis. This finding further
strengthens our current knowledge and is in disagreement
with an earlier study,14 which reported that breast-feeding
was not effective once an infection was established. In addition,
by exclusively breast-feeding, there is a potential to
significantly decrease the frequency and severity of giardiasis
infection, presumably through the reduced exposure to
contaminated infant foods, drinking water, and feeding utensils.