Breast milk sugar may protect babies against deadly infection

London: A type of sugar found in some women’s breast milk may protect babies from a potentially life threatening bacterium, a new study has found.

These bacteria, called Group B streptococcus, are a common cause of meningitis in new- borns and the leading cause of infection in the first three months of life globally.

The bug is carried naturally in the vagina and bowels by up to one in three women and can be transferred to the baby during childbirth or in breast milk.

The new research at Imperial College London on 183 women in the Gambia found that naturally- occurring sugars in a woman’s breast milk may have protective effects against Group B streptococcus.

Each woman’s breast milk contains a mixture of many different types of sugar, called human milk oligosaccharides, researchers said. The research was published in the journal Clinical and Translational Immunology.