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Dogs and cats are able to protect babies from colds

Alexey Portnov, medical expert
Last reviewed: 19.10.2021

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Children under one year of age, whose family has dogs and cats, are less susceptible to respiratory infections, such as colds and flu. This is the result of a new study conducted in Finland.

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Dogs best protect children from colds

A study of nearly 400 children found that children who lived with a dog during the first year of life increased their chances of staying healthy by one third during the first year. And this is compared with infants in families who did not have pets. So. Scientists have identified dogs as the leaders of protection from infections and pathogens. Children of the first year of life, in whose house the dogs were kept, had a 44 percent chance of catching an ear infection, and 29 percent of those children needed antibiotics less than their peers who did not have animals.

"Children who were at home with dogs were healthy and less likely to suffer from frequent ear infections, they needed a much smaller number of antibiotic courses than those who did not have contact with dogs," explained the study's lead author, Dr. Eia Bergroz, pediatrician at the University Hospital of Kuopio in Finland.

Dr. Bergroz also noted that "contacting children with cats does not have a significant impact on reducing the risk of infection, like contact with a dog."

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Animals help to reduce allergic reactions

Previous animal studies in the home have shown that animals, particularly dogs, can provide protection against the development of asthma and allergies. This absolutely contradicts the widespread view that animals in a house with a small child should not be kept, because a child can develop an allergy to wool. True, other studies have shown that pets can increase the number of respiratory infections in children with a weak immune system.

To get a better idea of the effect of animals on the health of the child, Dr. Bergroz and her colleagues analyzed the data of 208 children whose mothers participated in the study during the last trimester of pregnancy. Mothers were from rural areas of Austria, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland.

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And what about cats?

The study also included data on 216 mothers living in rural and suburban areas of Finland who gave birth at Kuopio University Hospital in Finland. After excluding children for whom they received incomplete information, the researchers analyzed the data for 397 children in general. And that's what happened.

During the first year of life, 72 percent of children experienced fever, 40 percent had ear infections, 97 percent had a runny nose, 84 percent had babies cough, and 32 percent had rales. Almost half of the children received antibiotics at least once during the first year of life, the study said.

Sixty-two percent of children lived in a house with a dog, 34 percent had a cat. So, the children, in the family of which lived dogs or cats, were more healthy than those who did not have animals.

The cat's effect on the health of the babies also demonstrated a protective effect, but it was not as strong as the effect of communicating with the dog.

How to explain the impact of animals on the health of the child?

Dr. Bergroz said that it is unclear how dogs can protect the child from respiratory diseases. "One possible explanation may be that dogs always bring something inside the house - dirt, earth - and this affects the immune system of the growing baby.This leads to more calm immunological responses to infectious agents later when the baby comes into contact with viruses and bacteria, "she said.

American expert Jennifer Appleyard said that the explanation may not be so simple.

"Pets can provide some protection from developing propensity to infections or protection from atopic diseases, but I think that the development of the immune system of children is going through a very difficult path," says Dr. Jennifer Appleyard, chief expert at the Allergy and Immunology Medical Center in St. John , in Detroit. - Parents with a small child who want to have a pet in the house should not feel guilty. If you want a pet, buy or take it, "she advised.

Dr. Bergroz said that she could not clearly advise her parents. Is it worth it to start a pet when the baby was just born. But the results of her research suggest that "there is no reason to avoid contact with animals because of fear of infection, at least, respiratory infections." She added that if someone has suffered from allergies in the family, it is extremely difficult to make recommendations on pets, and a decision on whether they are needed in the home should be taken individually in each case.

So, the fact that dogs and cats can protect the health of the child is likely. So, it is worth considering whether you need a home pet.

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