Canadian scientists from the University of Manitoba have found that bacteria that provoke asthma multiply in children fed with milk expressed by the breast pump.
These findings, the researchers came from the results of the analysis of breast milk obtained from 393 healthy mothers 3-4 months after birth. Some women expressed milk through a breast pump.
It turned out that in the milk collected through the breast pump, the concentration of the so-called opportunistic bacteria from the genus Stenotrophomonas (stenotrofomonas) and from the family Pseudomonadaceae (pseudomonads). Conditionally pathogenic bacteria are not dangerous for healthy people. But against the background of reduced immunity, for example, when taking antibiotics – an infection can develop. So, stenotrofomonas can infect the urinary and respiratory tract, as well as blood, and pseudomonads can often be associated with infection of wounds.
A survey of children confirmed the fears of scientists. Babies feeding directly from the mother’s breast had a higher concentration of “good” bacteria in their mouths and generally more varied bacteria. And in babies who received milk, expressed by means of a breast pump, the species composition of the microbes in the oral cavity was less, but the number of “bad” and “conditionally bad” bacteria was noticeably higher.
That is, children receiving milk from the breast pump are at additional risk. These bacteria, getting into the respiratory tract, significantly increase the risk of asthma at a later age.
Previously, scientists specify, breast milk was considered sterile. And today it is known that it contains the whole bacterial community necessary for the formation of the intestinal microbiome in a child. When this process is disturbed, dysbiotic disorders of the microflora develop, which increase the susceptibility to chronic diseases such as allergies, asthma and obesity.