Breast-feeding newborns might limit their allergy to pets later
Immune protection linked to gut microbe mix in early infancy
By Nathan Seppa
HOUSTON — Early breast-feeding accompanies a lower risk of pet allergy, possibly because of the way breast milk steers the composition of an infant’s gut microbe mix.
Scientists find that formula-fed newborns have a kind of gut bacterium at levels typically not seen until later in babyhood. These kids also had more signs of pet allergy years later than did breast-fed children, researchers reported February 22 at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.