Breastfeeding In Brazil Research Articles

HTLV-I ASSOCIATED DISEASES AND TRANSMISSION IN A FAMILY SETTING IN BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL.

P144 A 28-year-old Brazilian white female blood donor was found to be HTLV-I seropositive. She denied drug addiction, travel outside Minas Gerais, extramarital intercourse and was breast fed for 6 months. The mother's patient was also seropositive and had HAM. One of the 3 patient's sisters was HTLV-I seropositive and asymptomatic. The patient's two children and husband were HTLV-I seronegative. She reported a serious seborrheic dermatitis of longlife duration, which was predominantly in the nasal region as a child and in the scalp in adulthood. The neurological, ophthalmologic and laboratorial exams were normal. Skin biopsy specimens from the affected area revealed lymphohistiocytic infiltrate and had a positive HTLV-I nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The biopsy of skin area with normal appearance was hystologically normal and HTLV-I PCR negative. The patient has been treated for many years with topical corticosteroides and antihistamines with variable response. After HTLV-I detection, she started continuous therapy with pentoxifylline, 400 mg bid, while carrying on the former drugs. The response to pentoxifylline was very good. This case was illustrative of how apparently healthy HTLV-I adult carriers may present dermatological disease related to the virus. These lesions deserve attention as they might mean a pre-leukemic state. In addition, as seen in this and other families in our cohort, the spreading of the virus by breast feeding in Brazil may be higher than previously thought.

Risk factors for early termination of breast feeding in Brazil.

A prospective study was undertaken to identify possible factors related to the duration of breast feeding. Two hundred and thirty-eight mothers who had delivered normal single babies with birth weights greater than 2.5 kg and had initiated breast feeding were randomly selected at the maternity hospital, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, and followed by mail questionnaires until termination of breast feeding, or until the end of the first year. If no reply was received, telephone contact or home visits were made. The group of mothers who stopped breast feeding prior to the end of the third month was compared with those who extended breast feeding beyond three months with respect to socioeconomic, biological, environmental, medical and psychological factors. The variables with a significant coefficient of association with early termination of breast feeding were maternal education, past experience with breast feeding, help of a maid, help with housework provided by a relative, breast feeding orientation during prenatal care and encouragement from the husband. These factors act simultaneously, with interactions among them.

Breast feeding in Brazil.

Breast feeding in Brazil.

The Decline of Breast Feeding in Brazil

Data is provided on the present situation regarding the practice of breast feeding in the Far South of Brazil. The survey was performed at the South Area of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. 90% of the patients are from families of very low income. For children up to age 3 years visiting outpatient departments of the Santa Casa Hospital at Pelotas RS Brazil and of the Santo Antonio Childrens Hospital at Porto Alegre RS Brazil a special survey was conducted. It included data on childrens age sex place of residence real type of feeding time that the baby lies in a separate nursery and time of hospitalization in the maternity unit. The survey included 1100 mothers of normal full term infants mostly from peri-urban communities. 66% of mothers breast fed their infants 24 hours after birth with a range of 12-72 hours. Practically all mothers had a lying-in period of 48-72 hours. The high rates of early termination of breast feeding reported in the survey have multiple causes--cultural psychological economical and commercial. This marked decline of breast feeding has serious consequences to infant and childrens health in developing countries. Diarrheal disease and protein-calorie malnutrition in the 1st year of life are probably related to this early age of weaning. There is an urgent need to realistically approach the decline of breast feeding in the developing world working toward national improvement programs on breast feeding.

A Bibliography on Breast Feeding in Brazil

A Bibliography on Breast Feeding in Brazil