https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/how-pets-can-protect-against-allergies-in-kids-128844971122.html
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By Kathryn Doyle
In
a small, preliminary study, infants in households with furry pets were
found to share some of the animals’ gut bacteria - possibly explaining
why early animal exposure may protect against some allergies,
researchers say.
The
infants’ mothers had a history of allergy, so the babies were at
increased risk too, and it was once thought that pets might be a trigger
for allergies in such children, the authors point out in
the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
"Earlier it was thought that exposure to pets early in childhood was a risk factor for developing
allergic disease,” said Dr.
Merja Nermes of the
University of Turku in Finland,
who coauthored the research letter. “Later epidemiologic studies have
given contradictory results and even suggested that early exposure to
pets may be protective against
allergies, though the mechanisms
of this protective effect have remained elusive."Adding pet microbes to
the infant intestinal biome may strengthen the immune system, she told
Reuters Health by email.
Nermes and her colleagues wanted to see how, exactly, exposure to household pets might influence children’s immune systems.
The
researchers used an ongoing probiotic study of pregnant women with a
history of allergies. From the participants, they selected 51 infants of
families with furry pets (dogs, cats or rabbits) in the home and 64
infants with no pet in the home, as a comparison group.The study team
collected fecal samples from diapers when the babies were one month of
age and these were tested for the DNA of two types of Bifidobacteria
that are found specifically in animal guts: B. the rmophilum and B.
pseudolongum.
One
third of infants from the pet-exposed group had animal-specific
bifidobacteria in their fecal samples, compared to 14 percent of the
comparison group. It’s not clear where the infants without furry pets at
home acquired their gut bacteria, the authors write.When the babies
were six months old they had skin prick tests to assess allergies to
cow’s milk, egg white, flours, cod, soybeans, birch, grasses, cat, dog,
potato, banana and other allergens.
At
six months of age, 19 infants had reactions to at least one of the
allergens tested. None of these infants had B. thermophilum bacteria in
their fecal samples.
Past
research has linked growing up on a farm or exposure to dog dander
indoors with protection against airway allergens, the study team writes.
Other studies have found increased "richness and diversity” in the gut
microbes of kids exposed to household pets.
“When
infants and furry pets live in a close contact in the same household,
transfer of microbiota between pets and infants occurs,” Nermes said.
“For example, when a dog licks the infants face or hand, the pet-derived
microbiota can end up via the mouth into the infants intestine.
"Human-specific
Bifidobacteria have beneficial health effects, and animal-specific
strains may also be beneficial, she said. It is still unclear, however,
if exposure to these bacteria protects against allergies later in life,
she said.
"Future
research is needed to assess if these infants develop less atopic
dermatitis, asthma, or allergic rhinitis later,” she said.
Pediatricians should not advise parents to avoid having pets in the home for fear of allergies, she said.
“If
a family with a pregnant mother or an infant wants to have a pet, the
family can be encouraged to have one, because the development of
allergic disease cannot be prevented by avoiding pets,” she said.
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