The effects of farming and birth order on asthma and allergies.

A farm childhood is apparently protective in allergic disease, but studies of this issue in Europe have been confined to particular types of farming practice. This study addressed whether or not this effect was generalisable. A cross-sectional survey of 800 schoolchildren living in rural Crete was undertaken.

Childhood atopy and allergic disease and skin test responses to environmental mycobacteria in rural Crete: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Through its powerful immunoregulatory effects, infection with atypical mycobacteria may exert a protective effect on the development of childhood allergic disease.

Objective: To examine the relationship between childhood atopy or allergic disease and previous infection with four species of atypical mycobacteria.

Methods: Eight hundred and six children aged 8-18 years and living in rural Crete--most of whom had had previous BCG immunization--underwent skin prick testing with 10 aeroallergens; their parents completed a standardized questionnaire relating to allergic disease.