House dust protects city children from allergies

Bacterial house dust protects city children from allergies

06/16/2014

It has been known for some time that children who grow up on farms and thus have contact with stable dust suffer less frequently from allergies. As a US study now shows, a bacteria and allergen rich environment also has a positive impact on city children. Due to early contact with house dust, they rarely have allergies.

City children protected by bacteria from house dust
In urban children, regular and early contact with certain bacteria from house dust can prevent later hypersensitivity and allergies. The risk of atopic dermatitis and asthma is also reduced. This is the result of a US study by the team of James Gern from the University of Wisconsin. For several years, the researchers accompanied 560 children from several major US cities and recorded how much the children in the home with bacteria in house dust and allergy-causing proteins, the so-called allergens are confronted, including those in dust, cat and dog hair, Mites, mouse droppings and cockroaches. Their results were published in the trade journal „Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology“.

Farm children are less likely to suffer from allergies
At first, scientists assumed that a particularly clean and hygienic environment could be a risk factor for children's future allergies. In contrast, children from rural areas who grew up in a less sterile atmosphere were virtually vaccinated against hypersensitivity and allergies. Such evidence has also been discovered in German research. For example, the Marburg-based allergist and his team discovered more than ten years ago why farm children are much less likely to suffer from allergies and that their risk of asthma or hay fever is only half that of children growing up in an urban environment. The researchers came to the conclusion that this is due to the microbes, which occur in large numbers on farms. These would turn off the genes that trigger allergic reactions.

Regular contact with house dust reduces asthma risk
In the US study, house dust samples were taken regularly for several years in the homes in which the small children resided, and the children were also tested for allergies. The researchers were able to determine whether the children were hypersensitive to dog, cat, mouse, mite or cockroach allergens. It was found that regular contact with house dust reduced the likelihood of asthma-like attacks. In addition, it was found that particularly bacterially rich house dust with a high biological diversity protects children from allergies. (Ad)