Babies not exposed to animals before birth have more eczema than babies born to mothers who work with farm animals. A study by European experts, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, showed a mother's contact with farm animals and cats during pregnancy strongly reduced the chances of eczema in their baby's first two years of life. Technically known as atopic dermatitis, eczema is a serious skin condition leading to chronic itchy, scaly skin rashes. Nearly one-third of children who develop eczema before the age of two go on to develop hay fever or asthma. Earlier research has shown that children who grow up on farms have reduced risk of asthma and allergies. Credit is given to the rich microbial life the children encounter in that environment. Dr. Caroline Roduit of the University of Zurich, along with collegues in Switzerland and Germany, considered that because mothers can pass on some short-term immunity to their babies, it might be possible that mothers who came in frequent contact with microbes might have children with a lower risk of eczema. The study included 1,063 children, 508 born to farm families and 555 to non-farm families in five European countries. Of the children monitored, 17.8 percent developed eczema by age two. Only 14.4 percent of farm children developed the condition, where 20 percent of non-farm children did. Researches also found that the greater the variety of animals the mother was in contact with, the lower the risk of eczema in their children. BM
