Dogs Can Help Your Kid Develop Resistance to Allergies

Kids developing allergic reactions to dogs is always a major concern for expectant dog parents or parents looking to get a pet for their kids. But in a new twist of events, owning a dog could be the reason your kid doesn’t develop allergies.

And it is all thanks to certain animal-specific bacteria that invade your body. What! I know, that was my exact reaction. But, according to science, having different types of bacteria in your body will diversify your protection mechanisms allowing you to fight different illnesses. What’s more, there is a complete study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical immunology to prove this theory.

Here is how it went down. The researchers first identified a group of pregnant women with a history of allergies. They then studied 51 babies growing up in households with furry pets and 64 babies growing in households without. From the study, it was concluded that children from households with pets were twice as likely to carry the animal-specific bacteria in their intestines.

Moreover, when all the kids were exposed to allergens 19 of them developed allergic reactions but none of them were kids with the bacteria.
Dr. Merje Nermes who was the co-author of the study hopes the research can encourage more parents to own dogs.

He says, “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.”

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