Puppy love: Pet dog nips child allergies

AFP, April, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — Take a bow-wow, Fido. Scientists have found that Man's best friend is also good for his children too, for young kids who live with a dog may get an immune-system boost against asthma and other allergies.

Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology at the Heimholtz Centre in Munich, Germany, led an investigation into more than 3,000 children, whose health was closely monitored from birth to the age of six.

Blood tests showed that, in households with dogs, children were less at risk from becoming sensitised to pollens and inhaled allergens -- the triggers for asthma and wheezing, allergic rhinitis and eczema -- than counterparts in dog-less homes.

Heinrich believes that early exposure to germs brought into the house on dog fur could...