A new study from Zambia赞比亚 suggests that halting breastfeeding母乳哺育 early causes more harm than good for children not infected with HIV who are born to HIV-positive mothers. Stopping breastfeeding before 18 months was associated with significant increases in mortality死亡数 among these children, according to the study's findings, described in the Feb. 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, and available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/649886) now. The researchers' initial hypothesis假设, which proved to be incorrect, suggested that by 4 months of age, children would have passed the critical developmental point when breastfeeding is essential to their survival. However, stopping breastfeeding at 4 months, compared to usual breastfeeding as the child reaches 6 months to 24 months or older, did not decrease mortality or play a significant role in protecting the child from HIV transmission.

These findings were consistent with与……一致 those for mothers not infected with HIV; longer breastfeeding is necessary to protect children against potentially fatal infectious diseases, especially those prevalent in low-resource settings. To prevent postnatal出生后的 HIV transmission, however, mothers with HIV should be on antiretroviral drugs病毒药物.

"Our results help support the recent change in the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission," said study author Louise Kuhn, PhD, of Columbia University in New York City. "The new guidelines encourage postnatal use of antiretrovirals抗逆转录病毒的 through the duration of breastfeeding to prevent vertical [mother-to-child] transmission."