[Breast-feeding and intestinal parasites].

The extent of intestinal parasitic infection was determined using 4 methods of fecal examination in 400 Gabonese infants aged 0.5 to 24 months (86 exclusively and 151 partially breast-fed and 163 artificially fed) and in 170 of their mothers in an African urban community. Parasitic prevalence was the same in the stools of the mothers from the 3 infant groups, providing evidence for the same level of exposure to parasites in all infants. Exclusively and partially breast-fed infants excreted parasites in numbers significantly lower than artificially fed infants of the same ages, during the first and the second years of life. This antiparasitic activity of human milk concerned mostly Giardia and ascaris, was not exclusively due to a decreased exposure to parasites in breast-fed infants and did not seem exclusively antibody-mediated; the role of lipids is possible.