JAMA Pediatrics: Early Animal Exposure and Childhood Illnesses

Based on more current research studies, we now understand that exposing children to pets early in life does not lead to an increased risk of allergies or autoimmune illnesses. A study in this month’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics evaluated dog exposure among children beginning at 1 year. The researchers evaluated the children annually for several years and found that there was no association between early exposure to dogs and developing type 1 diabetes in childhood. Other studies have found that exposure to pets early in life may contribute to a decreased risk of developing allergies.

Link to article here

NIH-Sponsored Expert Panel Issues Clinical Guidelines to Prevent Peanut Allergy

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:  Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the United States Summary for Clinicians.

In 2015, findings from the landmark Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study—the first randomized trial to study early allergen introduction as a preventive strategy—showed that early introduction of peanut-containing foods to infants at high risk of developing peanut allergy was safe and led to an 81 percent relative reduction in the subsequent development of peanut allergy. Based on the size of the observed effect and the statistical significance of this result, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), established a coordinating committee and convened an expert panel to develop clinical guidelines to address the prevention of peanut allergy. These guidelines are an Addendum to the 2010 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States.

https://www.niaid.nih.gov/sites/default/files/peanut-allergy-prevention-guidelines-clinician-summary.pdf