Treatment against the development of allergy might need to begin before birth – and farm visits might be the answer, a major European conference was told yesterday.
It is well known that farm children have low risk of developing allergies – and this is assumed to be because they are exposed to animals, plants and dirt early in life.
Now Professor Harald Renz, from the University of Marburg, Germany, says he has evidence that this protection begins before birth – when pregnant women also get exposure to farming activities.
He revealed his findings from a detailed study of farming families to the Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Istanbul, Turkey.
Professor Renz now wants to see the development of an allergy vaccine – based on farmyard substances.
He said: "There is a very nice model situation that confers a high degree of asthma protection – the rural farming environment.
"We now know that if the pregnant woman is exposed to microbes from this environment such as from cows and in stables, these initiate an immune response in the airways of the mother, and this immune response confers a level of protection in utero."
He added: "It doesn’t mean everyone has to live on a farm – what I could envision is an asthma vaccine, where you would have a couple of shots during childhood and would be protected."
Meanwhile another expert warned that climate change may be aggravating the spread of allergic diseases in Europe.
Trees such as birch and cypress are flowering for longer and earlier than they did several decades ago, according to Dr Lorenzo Cecchi of the University of Florence, Italy.
Dr Cecchi told conference delegates about the findings of a European task force on the subject. He said countries need to develop effective pollen networks to monitor changes in the pollen season.
He said: "The extended pollen season means that people have to begin taking anti-hay fever medication earlier – and this means more drugs and more cost for the individual or national health provider."
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