Farm bacteria may be used in the future to help vaccinate against asthma. A new research effort has discovered that school aged children can be up to 50% less likely to develop asthma when they live on farms.
The study, which was conducted by German researchers, has been published in todays edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
During their study, researchers examined how exposure to various farm-dwelling bacteria, fungi, and environmental elements like dirt, dust and animal hair may help children as they grew up.
The theory from researchers suggest that as children mature, their immune system has already had an opportunity to contend with these elements and build up a proper response to them.
Children growing up in cities or suburban areas appear unable to develop the same type of response from their immune system, often leading to asthmatic conditions once exposed.
While additional studies and tests are required, researchers hope that their findings may one day lead to a vaccine that can be administered to very young children as a form of preventing asthma.
