Nov. 26th, 2009
BBC News - Dirt can be good for children, say scientists
San Diego researchers have discovered that Staphylococci, commonly found on the skin, cause the body not overreact with an inflammatory response. The bacteria creates lipoteichoic which keeps keratinocytes, that compose part of the outer layer of skin, from generating an inflammatory response, such as would be experienced if you were exposed to an allergen. According to the researchers, this lends support to the idea that children should be exposed to plenty of dirt so that the staph bacteria to lessen the chance of their developing allergies.