Objectives: To assess, whether exclusive breastfeeding plays a protective role in Rotavirus infection among children under age of five and to estimate whether breastfeeding has an impact on reducing the severity and symptoms among children infected with Rotavirus.
Methods: A systematic search was performed in Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE/PubMEd (from 1980 to present), ScienceDirect (from 1980 to present), OVID (from 1980 to present) and regional database IndMED. All the studies along with the research publications with descriptive, case series, cross sectional, case control and cohort studies (prospective and retrospective) that provided effectiveness of exclusive breastfeeding were considered for this review. Two review authors independently scrutinized the studies and extracted the data. In case of disagreement, the senior reviewer was consulted.
Results: Total seven studies qualified for the systematic review in which 6 studies qualified for meta-analysis. Exclusive breastfeeding was found to be effective in prevention of Rotavirus infection and in reducing the risk of Rotavirus infection among children (OR = 0.62, 95 % CI = 0.48-0.81).
Conclusions: This systematic review suggests that there is significant benefit in prevention of Rotavirus diarrhea among children by practicing exclusive breastfeeding throughout first 6 mo of life. Thereby, this study provides next reason to promote exclusive breastfeeding practice among mothers.
Keywords: Breast feeding; Diarrhea; Rotavirus infection; Systematic review.