Having a dog can protect against asthma. Germs living in house dust in apartments with dogs can help protect children from a respiratory virus infection, a severe form of which can lead to asthma. This opinion was expressed by scientists at the University of California at San Francisco (USA), foreign media report.
“We found that adding dog dust to mouse food protected mice from the childhood airborne infectious agent, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV infection ). This led us to hypothesize that dog dust microbes could colonize the gastrointestinal tract, creating an immune response and protecting their host from the asthmatic pathogen RSV,” says study author Kei Fujimura .
Respiratory syncytial virus is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in newborns and children. There is no vaccine for this virus. Treatment is limited to supportive care, possibly using an oxygen mask.
Fujimura ‘s presentation at the American Society for Microbiology convention emphasized that this work represents a first step towards identifying the identity of microbial varieties that confer protection against airborne infections.
I wonder how things are with cats? Probably the other way around?
pollen asthma
The late arrival of spring, combined with a large number of flowering trees and pollen throughout the US, could make this spring season especially difficult for asthma sufferers, Mount Sinai Hospital (USA, New York) said in an interview with FoxNews.com.
Due to the long winter and late snowstorms, the peak of flowering trees in many states has shifted. The spring season will be especially difficult for people with asthma, experts say. Those who have an increased sensitivity to pollen from woody plants should take care of inhalers now. Among adolescents and adults, an allergic reaction to tree pollen is the most common. Such asthma is treated with inhaled prednisone.
The American Asthma and Allergy Foundation (AAFA) in its annual report ” Spring Allergy Capitals named Louisville, Kentucky, the most dangerous city in the US in terms of pollen counts and allergy rates for asthmatics. Doctors advise those who want to avoid complications this spring to take better care of their health.
Experts advise asthmatics to change their clothes and wash their hair more often, spend more time outdoors, and prevent pollen from entering the home by damp cleaning.