breastfeeding and nasopharyngeal colonization with common respiratory pathogens among children

Background: breastfeeding has been associated with decreased frequency of otitis media in children. it might be due to lower prevalence of nasopharyngeal colonization with the respiratory pathogens among breast-fed infants compared to those who are formula-fed. objectives: this study was performed to determine the influence of breastfeeding on streptococcus pneumoniae, haemophilus influenzae and moraxella catarrhalis colonization rates in children. patients and methods: in this cross-sectional study, 2 - 6 years old children in 10 randomly selected daycare centers in northeast of iran (mashhad) were studied. we obtained nasopharyngeal specimens to culture for streptococcus pneumoniae, haemophilus influenzae and moraxella catarrhalis from 1125 children. carriage rates for aforementioned bacteria were determined and analyzed on the basis of feeding type during infancy. results: a total of 885 children were breast-fed (78.7%), 69 children were formula-fed (6.1%), and 171 children were mixed-fed (15.2%). carriage rates of s. pneumoniae, h. influenzae and m. catarrhalis among children were 13.1%, 9.1%, and 4.3%, respectively. although lower incidence of nasopharyngeal colonization was found in breast- versus formula-fed children, it was not significant (p > 0.5). conclusions: it seems that feeding in infancy has no influence over the prevalence of nasopharyngeal colonization with respiratory pathogens during childhood.