My Three Years in Moscow

Feeding the newborn baby

“…T h e stools of the breast-fed infant have a mixed bacterial flora in contrast to the mainly Gram-negative one of the artificially fed, and are acid, because of the predominance of Lactobacillus bifidus, with its property of breaking down lactose into acetic acid and lactic acid (Gyorgy, 1961). A specific bi$dus growth factor may have an inhibitory effect on the growth of Escherichia coli (Gyorgy, 1953), and the presence of large amounts of lysozyme may add to the antibacterial effect (Glynn, 1968).…”