1 Medical Student, University of Colorado, Medical School, Denver, Colorado 80206
Dr. Gerrard's recent review, "Breast-Feeding: Second Thoughts"1 concluded that breast-feeding offered a measure of immunological protection during the first six months of extrauterine life. Before this conclusion is accepted, further examination of the surveys cited in the article is warranted.
Gerrard states that Grulee et al.'s 1934 survey2 is "the most convincing evidence on the subject." The author's review fails to mention the design or controls employed in Grulee et al.'s "study." In fact, Grulee et al. merely compiled statistics on all those infants (20,061 from 1924 to 1929) who had been observed periodically during the first nine months of life, not including those who died.