Breastfeeding prevents severe disease in full term female infants with acute respiratory infection.

Background: Breastfeeding is a well-known protective factor against severe respiratory tract infections. Recently, a gender specific role for human milk has been described in very low birth weight infants and neonates: breast milk protected girls but not boys.

Objective: To determine whether the protective effect of breastfeeding on the severity of acute respiratory infections in full term infants is different for girls and boys.