Proper exposure to livestock is good for immune system development

why do rural children often "skin" more than urban children? Proper exposure to farm animals in infedomnity contributes to the development of the immune system, researchers at Ohio State University and other institutions said in a paper published in the international journal Frontiers in Immunology.
researchers collected stool samples from 10 Ohio infants between the ages of 6 months and 1 year. Five of the babies are from Amish families in Ohio who still rely on farming and raising livestock to meet their needs. The other five babies were from a medium-sized city in Ohio and had no livestock in their homes. The analysis showed that rural infants had more diverse microbes and more beneficial bacteria in their guts than urban infants.
To further explore the relationship between gut microbes and immune system development, the researchers also transplanted microbes from baby faeces into the intestines of newborn pigs, and found that gut microbes in rural infants made newborn piglets' immune systems healthier, especially better developing lymphocytes in the gut.
previous studies have shown that rural life can help reduce the risk of allergies and asthma. Good hygiene practices are important, but from the immune system's point of view, children grow up in too clean environments and the immune system loses the chance to come into contact with some microbes and develop well, the researchers said. Therefore, getting children into the countryside properly to come into contact with livestock that many people think is a bit dirty is good for the development of the immune system. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
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