The impact of breastfeeding on serum electrolytes in infants hospitalized with severe dehydrating diarrhoea in Yemen.

The effect of breastfeeding on serum electrolytes and case fatality was studied in a group of 430 children admitted with severe dehydrating diarrhoea. Hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia were significantly more prevalent in infants who were exclusively bottle-fed (37.3% and 46.3%) compared with exclusively breastfed (12.2% and 16.7%) and among bottle-fed weaning children (46.3% and 62.6%) compared with weaning children who continued to breastfeed (24.7% and 36.7%, respectively). Mortality was lower in exclusively breastfed children (4.4%) than in those receiving formula feeds (16.4%); it was also lower in weaning children who continued to receive breast-milk (6%) than in bottle-fed weaning children (13.8%). Breastfeeding significantly reduces case fatality and the likelihood of electrolyte disturbances among infants hospitalized with severe dehydrating diarrhoea.