A few years ago, when we were living in California, I donated milk for this research, which was being conducted through UC Berkeley and UC Davis. I pumped at work, and then met the researcher on a street corner outside of the State Capitol building - we both joked that it felt like a drug deal!
From what I recall, the researchers took my milk, infected it with HIV, and then conducted the flash pasteurization method you see in the video. They knew at that point that this method would kill the HIV, but were testing to see how much of the nutrition remained stable in the milk after the pasteurization.
Many of you probably know about the complex issue of HIV and breastfeeding in the developing world. Breastfeeding is a key route of transmission of HIV, but for women living in areas with unclean water supplies, not breastfeeding is an even more dangerous proposition. The risk of death in the early months of life from diarrhea and other infections is considered greater than risk of HIV infection. For that reason, the World Health Organization and UNICEF recommends not breastfeeding only "when replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe." A key appears to be exclusive breastfeeding, as recent studies have confirmed. One theory is that the use of supplements creates tiny fissures in the baby's gastrointestinal tract, which allow the HIV virus to enter the baby's system via breastmilk.
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