Paediatrician says breast milk can treat conjuctivitis in neonates

Prof. Samuel Ernest of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ilorin, says breast milk has effective antibacterial activities in curing conjuctivitis in neonates.
Ernest stated this on Saturday in Ilorin during his 171st inaugural paper presentation entitled: “Adventures in Childhood Morbidity, Prevention and Mortality Reduction”.
The expert in child health, who teaches at the Department of Paediatrics of the university, explained that breast milk could also help mothers to treat their babies with conjuctivitis in refugee camps or Internally Displaced Persons camps where medical supplies ran out temporarily.
He said: “I did extensive work on neonatal conjuctivits; this ranged from determination of its prevalence, the causes, the antibiotic sensitivity patterns of the organisms causing it to the efficacy of breast milk and sulphacetamide eye drops.
“We discovered that chlamydia which was the leading cause of blindness in adults, was also one of the leading causes of conjuctivitis among neonates.
“I also established that breast milk has effective antibacterial activities that may be useful in treating conjuctivitis in neonates.”
According to the Paediatrican, breast milk is packed with antibodies giving it countless other uses among which is treating eye infections.
He said that breast milk could, therefore, help and be useful in hard-to-reach places or areas that faced difficulty accessing health care.