Study links stronger response of immune system, family pet
February 10, 2004|By Tribune Newspapers: Newsday.  It has been
accepted dogma for years that house pets were not good for
children with asthma and allergies. But a newer theory,
strengthened by the latest study, suggests otherwise.  A new
study has found that infants with certain forms of a gene that
is a marker for immune function, who also have a dog, are much
less likely to develop allergic skin rashes, a sign that their
immune systems are stronger than those who have not had a dog in
their lives.  And it may not be the dog, but the dirt that dogs
track in.  "Having a dog was associated with a particular
pattern of immune system development," said Dr. James Gern, a
pediatric allergist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
He and his colleagues tracked 285 children from birth to age 5
to better understand how environment and genetics work together
to confer protection or trigger allergic reactions. Those
without a dog during the first year of