Journal article
Consumption of unprocessed cow's milk protects infants from common respiratory infections.
- Loss G Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: georg.loss@med.uni-muenchen.de.
- Depner M Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
- Ulfman LH FrieslandCampina, Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
- van Neerven RJ FrieslandCampina, Amersfoort, The Netherlands; Cell Biology and Immunology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
- Hose AJ Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
- Genuneit J Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
- Karvonen AM Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
- Hyvärinen A Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
- Kaulek V Department of Respiratory Disease, UMR/CNRS 6249 chrono-environment, University Hospital of Besançon, Besançon, France.
- Roduit C Children's Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education, Davos, Switzerland.
- Weber J Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
- Lauener R Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education, Davos, Switzerland; Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St Gallen, Switzerland.
- Pfefferle PI Institute for Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiochemistry, Molecular Diagnostics, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany.
- Pekkanen J Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland; Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
- Vaarala O Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
- Dalphin JC Department of Respiratory Disease, UMR/CNRS 6249 chrono-environment, University Hospital of Besançon, Besançon, France.
- Riedler J Children's Hospital, Schwarzach, Austria.
- Braun-Fahrländer C Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
- von Mutius E Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany; Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany.
- Ege MJ Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany; Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany.
- 2014-12-03
Published in:
- The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. - 2015
C-reactive protein
Respiratory infections
epidemiology
fever
infancy
inflammation
milk
otitis
prevention
rhinitis
Animals
Drinking
Europe
Female
Fever
Hot Temperature
Humans
Infant
Male
Milk
Odds Ratio
Otitis
Pasteurization
Prospective Studies
Respiratory Tract Infections
Rhinitis
English
BACKGROUND
Breast-feeding is protective against respiratory infections in early life. Given the co-evolutionary adaptations of humans and cattle, bovine milk might exert similar anti-infective effects in human infants.
OBJECTIVE
To study effects of consumption of raw and processed cow's milk on common infections in infants.
METHODS
The PASTURE birth cohort followed 983 infants from rural areas in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, and Switzerland, for the first year of life, covering 37,306 person-weeks. Consumption of different types of cow's milk and occurrence of rhinitis, respiratory tract infections, otitis, and fever were assessed by weekly health diaries. C-reactive protein levels were assessed using blood samples taken at 12 months.
RESULTS
When contrasted with ultra-heat treated milk, raw milk consumption was inversely associated with occurrence of rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio from longitudinal models [95% CI]: 0.71 [0.54-0.94]), respiratory tract infections (0.77 [0.59-0.99]), otitis (0.14 [0.05-0.42]), and fever (0.69 [0.47-1.01]). Boiled farm milk showed similar but weaker associations. Industrially processed pasteurized milk was inversely associated with fever. Raw farm milk consumption was inversely associated with C-reactive protein levels at 12 months (geometric means ratio [95% CI]: 0.66 [0.45-0.98]).
CONCLUSIONS
Early life consumption of raw cow's milk reduced the risk of manifest respiratory infections and fever by about 30%. If the health hazards of raw milk could be overcome, the public health impact of minimally processed but pathogen-free milk might be enormous, given the high prevalence of respiratory infections in the first year of life and the associated direct and indirect costs.
Breast-feeding is protective against respiratory infections in early life. Given the co-evolutionary adaptations of humans and cattle, bovine milk might exert similar anti-infective effects in human infants.
OBJECTIVE
To study effects of consumption of raw and processed cow's milk on common infections in infants.
METHODS
The PASTURE birth cohort followed 983 infants from rural areas in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, and Switzerland, for the first year of life, covering 37,306 person-weeks. Consumption of different types of cow's milk and occurrence of rhinitis, respiratory tract infections, otitis, and fever were assessed by weekly health diaries. C-reactive protein levels were assessed using blood samples taken at 12 months.
RESULTS
When contrasted with ultra-heat treated milk, raw milk consumption was inversely associated with occurrence of rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio from longitudinal models [95% CI]: 0.71 [0.54-0.94]), respiratory tract infections (0.77 [0.59-0.99]), otitis (0.14 [0.05-0.42]), and fever (0.69 [0.47-1.01]). Boiled farm milk showed similar but weaker associations. Industrially processed pasteurized milk was inversely associated with fever. Raw farm milk consumption was inversely associated with C-reactive protein levels at 12 months (geometric means ratio [95% CI]: 0.66 [0.45-0.98]).
CONCLUSIONS
Early life consumption of raw cow's milk reduced the risk of manifest respiratory infections and fever by about 30%. If the health hazards of raw milk could be overcome, the public health impact of minimally processed but pathogen-free milk might be enormous, given the high prevalence of respiratory infections in the first year of life and the associated direct and indirect costs.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1016/j.jaci.2014.08.044
- PMID 25441645
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/298194
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