Colostrum outperforms flu vaccine.

Bovine colostrum supplementation prevents influenza more effectively than flu vaccination, according to a 2007 Italian study. Colostrum, a substance produced in mammary glands within 48 to 72 hours after a female mammal gives birth, abounds with nutrients, growth factors, and immune-supporting compounds, including antibodies. Bovine colostrum has a similar composition to human colostrum.

Researchers, led by M. R. Cesarone, at San Valentino-Spoltere Vascular Screening Project in Pescara, Italy, compared the effectiveness of an oral colostrum tablet (900 mg, once in the morning) with anti-influenza vaccine in healthy subjects, ages 30 to 80. They divided the subjects into four groups: those who received vaccination alone, those who received vaccination and colostrum supplements, those who received only colostrum, and those who received no flu-preventive treatment. The researchers looked at the number of influenza episodes during the two-month treatment period plus the month after (three months total) and the total days of illness. Both colostrum-receiving groups experienced significantly fewer cases of flu than either the untreated or the vaccination-only group: “The number of days with flu was 3 times higher in the non-colostrum subjects. The colostrum group had 13 episodes versus 14 in the colostrum + vaccination group, 41 in the group [with] prophylaxis, and 57 in nontreated subjects.”

A second part of this study involved 65 very high-risk cardiovascular patients, all of whom received influenza vaccination. Again, the colostrum group had fewer cases of influenza and fewer complications that required hospital admission. Cesarone et al conclude: “Colostrum, both in healthy subjects and high-risk cardiovascular patients, is at least 3 times more effective than vaccination to prevent flu and is very cost-effective.”

Cesarone MR, Belcaro G, Di Renzo A, Dugall M et al. Prevention of influenza episodes with colostrum compared with vaccination in healthy and high-risk cardiovascular subjects: the epidemiologic study in San Valentino [abstract]. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. April 2007; 13 (2): 130-136. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17456621. Accessed October 3, 2008. Cornelli U. Use of colostrum for the prophylaxis of influenza syndromes (WO/2007/057748). Filed November 15, 2006 with World Intellectual Property Organization. Available at: www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp. Accessed October 3, 2008.

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