Childrens Allergy Profile: 29 in 1 Home Kit – £99

Narrative Created by BioMedical Scientist Tanmay Sehgal

Child Allergy Blood test and pets, when cohabitation becomes a benefit for children’s health (and not only)

We often hear about allergies, infections, contamination. Fear of keeping newborns in close contact with pets. It is undeniable that dogs, cats and company are vectors of microorganisms. The good news is that the vast majority are not genetically compatible with humans, while others can have unexpected effects. But one thing is certain: “Living with animals from an early age can lead to a strengthening of the immune system and a reduction in allergies”. This is confirmed by Professor Mario Di Gioacchino, president of the Italian Child Society of Allergology, Asthma and Clinical Immunology, to whom we asked to shed some light after the latest scientific research published on the subject.

At the last European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, a study was presented according to which dogs and cats could transmit drug-resistant organisms to us humans and therefore inadvertently worsen our response to antibiotic treatments. A sort of shield, this time not favorable, found in a series of people hospitalized precisely because of the ineffectiveness of medicines against an infection. A Japanese study, just published in Plos, reveals instead that pets are an excellent gym for the immune system, so much so that children born into families with animals, in close contact already during gestation, have shown a lower incidence of food allergies. Specifically, dogs seem to reduce problems with eggs, milk and nuts more, cats those related to eggs, wheat and soy while hamsters would increase allergies to nuts.

Professor, how is it possible that dogs and cats give us this “food protection”?

“First of all, you need to know that, compared to adults, children are more likely to recover from a food allergy. This is because their body is more likely to acquire a tolerance that will allow them to eat a food to which they were initially allergic in the future. All this is possible because at the intestinal level we have a complex microbiota in which there are more or less regulatory T lymphocytes that silence the immune system and therefore block the allergy. In children, this process is easier because their immune defenses are still developing. Recent studies have shown that, contrary to what was thought, early weaning even in the children of people with allergies is more effective precisely because it reduces the risk of developing hypersensitivity. That said, the Japanese study was able to observe this form of protection in a scenario of early exposure but not the cause-effect. This shows us that precisely because of this immune tolerance that develops very early, probably even during pregnancy, “contamination” with dogs and cats can give us benefits at a epidemiological level. of microbiota, giving us a greater tolerance to foods such as eggs or milk”.

What can we say instead about allergies to dog and cat hair?

“The principle is exactly the same: only early exposure to dog and cat antigens helps us to create tolerance and therefore not to develop an allergy. It is absolutely not true that you have to keep a dog or cat away from home if there is an atopic child, if anything you have to do the opposite: only by coming into contact with the proteins produced by the sebaceous and salivary glands – these are the real allergens to which we react, not the animal’s hair – will we reduce the risk of developing allergies. If, on the other hand, children are kept under a glass bell, they will develop a less efficient immune system and more predisposed to allergies”.

Why is the number of allergy sufferers increasing?

“It is expected that in 2035, 50% of Italians will show at least one allergy. In the last 20 years there has been a real surge and the responsibility is only ours. One problem is certainly environmental pollution since many chemical substances are immunoregulators that have the ability to polarize and make us allergic. The other problem is the abuse of sanitizers. The fact that we no longer live in contact with nature, but in highly clean and sterilized domestic environments has led us to increasingly inhibit exposures that in the past strengthened our immune system, leaving us, in fact, more predisposed”.

What can you tell us instead about antibiotic resistance transmitted by dogs and cats?

“Living with a dog or a cat modifies our microbiota, which is the bacterial heritage that populates the intestine. This can therefore have positive effects, such as tolerance to food allergies, but also negative ones, such as drug resistance. The risk is low, but animals are potential reservoirs of multidrug-resistant organisms just like us. If our microbiota were not already resistant, every time we take an antibiotic we would completely destroy it, but fortunately this is not the case. Unfortunately, there can be no effective form of prevention in this regard, also because the encounter with antibiotic-resistant bacteria is always possible, even if you do not live with a pet”.

All warm-blooded animals, however, can potentially be the source of allergic reactions in people. There are no breeds of dogs or cats that are less “allergenic” than others. In fact, even horses (and also cattle and pigs) are carriers of allergens: simply riding or being close to an equine can trigger reactions in allergic subjects.

Child Allergenic proteins can hide in fur, in flakes of dead skin, in urine and saliva.

To reduce the amount of allergens in the air at home, you can try to:

Install a HEPA filter in the house, Prevent the animal from accessing bedrooms,

Avoid contact with the animal and wash your hands after any contact.

Wash the animal regularly (once every seven days for cats, twice a week for dogs).

Pet allergies can be a social problem that makes it difficult to visit friends and relatives who have dogs and cats or horses and other animals. This can be especially problematic for children who are unable to participate in activities at friends’ homes. Your allergist can help you determine what treatment would be best for your pet allergy and advise on possible use of medications before social exposures and specific steps to take after exposure.