Fresh cow's milk shields babies from infections.

ISLAMABAD -- One reason why children today seem to catch infections more easily may well be the increasing scarcity of fresh cow's milk, the researchers have found.

Infants fed on fresh rather than ultra-high temperature (UHT) processed cow's milk are less prone to respiratory infections, febrile illness and inflammation of the middle ear, the findings showed.

Ingestion of farm milk reduced the risk of developing these conditions by up to 30 percent, and the effect was diminished if the milk was heated at home before consumption.

"Among children who were fed on fresh, unprocessed cow's milk, the incidence of head colds and other respiratory infections, febrile and middle-ear inflammation was found to be significantly lower than in the group whose milk ration consisted of the commercially processed ultra-pasteurised product," said first author Georg Loss from Dr. Von Hauner Children's Hospital in Munich, Germany.

The study recruited 1,000 pregnant women who were asked to document...