Childhood Infections Boost to Immune System

Babies who suffer from viral infections and 'runny noses' may be less at risk from developing asthma, according to a team of German researchers.

The team followed a sample of 1,300 children from birth to age 7. Children who had suffered two or more minor infections by age 1 faced half the risk of developing asthma. The researchers believe infections boost the child's immune system, acting like a natural 'vaccination'.

Other research at the Imperial College School of Medicine found that children who grew up around animals, or in large families also faced a lower risk.

Even so, repeated bouts of infection of the lower respiratory tract during early childhood suggested a tendency to develop allergies.

Professor Sebastian Johnson at he ICSM commented: "The challenge...is to find ways of reproducing the protective effects of early childhood infections, while at the same time reducing the burden of serious...infectious diseases".

One in 7 children between the ages of 2 and 15 now have asthma.

Scientists at Southampton University claimed this month to have identified an 'asthma gene' which could account for as many as 40% of asthma cases.

Tuesday, 27 February 2001