THROAT MICROFLORA IN BREAST-FED AND FORMULA-FED INFANTS

Most bacterial infections are caused by organisms that are already col onizing the host, and these infections commonly originate at site of t he gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. However, little attention has been focused on the indigenous microflora of the respiratory tract in the infant. We studied the throat microflora of healthy breastfed and formula-fed infants. The incidence of pathogenic bacterial isolati on from breastfed infants (1 out of 23) was lower relative to infants fed formula (5 out of 14). The dominant bacteria in the throat flora i solated in both breastfed and formulated infants were alpha-haemolytic Streptococcus and gamma Streptococcus. These results suggest that bre astmilk may be efficacious in preventing the growth of pathogenic bact eria in the throat.