Breastfeeding mitigates the risks for developing lower respiratory tract infections in infancy and for developing asthma and allergic rhinitis in childhood, observes the latest study by a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, US.  The study, led by Dr  Christian Rosas-Salazar, an assistant professor of paediatrics at VUMC, and published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, suggested that exclusive breastfeeding protects against the risks of bronchiolitis or pneumonia, asthma and hay fever in young children, probably due to the impact of breastmilk on the early-life microbiome. The study evaluated data of 1,949 healthy infants in a population-based cohort who were followed via passive and active surveillance, including in-person respiratory illness visits and viral testing.