DOGS CAN HELP PREVENT CHILDHOOD ASTHMA

It is known that infants with severe cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have an increased chance of developing asthma. This latest study shows bacteria found in the dust of homes with dogs may have protective effects against RSV.

"These findings are the first step towards creating a therapy to protect infants against RSV and therefore lessening the occurrence of asthma in the long term," says Dr Kei Fujimura, a molecular biologist at theUniversity of California, San Francisco and who presented his group's work at the 112th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

Previous studies have shown that bacterial communities in house dust are different in homes with and without dogs, and that children living with pet dogs have a lower incidence of asthma.

To see if there is a link, scientists collected dust from homes with dogs, mixed it in a solution and fed it to mice. After eight days, these animals were given RSV. Their immune response was compared to another group infected with RSV, and a control group of healthy mice.

The mice that were fed house dust did not develop the inflammation and mucous production symptomatic of RSV. A different group of bacteria were also found in the gastrointestinal tract of these mice compared to the other experimental groups.