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JACI Highlights - December 2006
Flohr et al – Poor sanitation and helminth infection protect against skin sensitization in Vietnamese children: A cross-sectional study
In the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Flohr and colleages studied a population of South-East Asian children with a high prevalence of hookworm infection in order to determine whether or not helminth infection is associated with reduced prevalence of allergen skin test sensitization. Allergic diseases are rare in developing nations, but are more common in areas of urbanization. Some studies suggest that the relatively high prevalence of allergic disease in urban areas of developing countries may be explained by a reduced exposure to soil-transmitted helminths, or parasites. The authors report independent protective effects of geohelminth infection as well as poor sanitationon allergic sensitization in Vietnamese children, suggesting that allergic sensitization is more common in those who lead a more hygenic life. Therefore, if the inverse relationship between geohelminth infection, poor sanitation, and allergic sensitization proves to be causal, drugs derived from parasite products may help to alleviate allergic disease.
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