A study by a research team including James Gern, MD, professor, Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Christine Seroogy, MD, associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, and collaborators at the Marshfield Clinic has concluded that exposure to dairy farms early in life may dramatically reduce the frequency and severity of respiratory illnesses, allergies and chronic skin rashes among young children.

Conditions that were significantly less common in farm-exposed children were allergic rhinitis or hay fever (17 percent compared to 28 percent) and eczema (7 percent versus 19 percent).

Respiratory illnesses during the first two years of life were also reduced.

“These findings suggest that environmental exposures or other elements of the farming lifestyle help kids to be resistant to both allergies and viral respiratory illnesses,” said Dr. Gern.

A news release by UW School of Medicine and Public Health about the study was syndicated by several media outlets including Yahoo News, Medical XPress, and Wisconsin Farm News.

Resources:

• "Study: Early Farm Exposure Mitigates Respiratory Illnesses, Allergies and Skin Rashes," UW School of Medicine and Public Health, September 5, 2017
• Ludka-Gaulke T, Ghera P, Waring SC, Keifer M, Seroogy C, Gern JE, Kirkhorn S. 2017. Farm exposure in early childhood is associated with a lower risk of severe respiratory illnesses. J Allergy Clin Immunol. [Epub ahead of print]
• "Marshfield study: Kids raised on dairy farms less likely to get allergies, rashes," Wisconsin State Farmer, September 10, 2017

File photo: A farm cat talks with the Holstein dairy cattle at the UW Emmons Blaine Dairy Cattle Research Center in Arlington, Wisconsin on May 19, 2014. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison)