--- Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > --- Ronn!Blankenship wrote: > > > The Fool wrote: > > > > > >NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Giving soon-to-be > > > mothers and newborns doses > > > >of "good" bacteria may help prevent childhood > > >allergies up to age four,continuing research > > suggests. > >http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=2853206
> > > > > > Fascinating how we didn't used to deliberately > feed bacteria to mothers and > > > children, and childhood allergies are on the > rise rather than the decline . . . > > > Maybe Dirt Is Good For You Maru > > > > Other studies (previously posted) have shown that > > children exposed to (i.e. living with) pets or > > farmyard animals, while for the first 6 months of > life have more upper respiratory ailments, after >that - and > > up to age 3 or 4 (can't remember exactly) - have > less colds, allergic asthma, bronchitis and ear > infections. > And IIRC, kids don't start getting polio until > general hygiene improves to a certain point. Polio is transmitted via a fecal-oral route - and thus "should" be common in very young children - so when an individual isn't exposed by a toddlerish age, the effects are worse (similar phenomenon in chicken pox, where the newly-infected adult has a higher risk of bad outcomes like pneumonitis and death, instead of an itchy rash with fever). The incidence of paralytic polio peaked in the 1950's, and after vaccines were introduced it declined; does anyone know offhand when drinking-water chlorination was introduced? Polio's increase in the 19th and 20th centuries probably reflects improved separation of drinking water from sewage, with possible influence of overcrowding and the shift from rural -> urban lifestyles. The usual manifestation of polio was a self-limiting febrile gastroenteritis, but meningitic and paralytic forms could cause long-term sequelae or even death. This is a pretty good short medical article: http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1843.htm "Poliomyelitis is an enteroviral infection that can manifest in 4 different forms: inapparent infection, abortive disease, nonparalytic poliomyelitis, and paralytic disease. Before the 19th century, poliomyelitis occurred sporadically. During the 19th and 20th centuries, epidemic poliomyelitis was more frequently observed, reaching its peak in the mid 1950s. The worldwide prevalence of this infection has decreased significantly since then because of aggressive immunization programs. Eradication of this disease during the present decade is a top priority for the World Health Organization (WHO)..." Here is an overview of polio infection, which has occured since at least Egyptian pharoah times: http://cumicro2.cpmc.columbia.edu/PICO/Chapters/History.html This is a 20th century timeline of polio in the US: http://www.pbs.org/storyofpolio/polio/timeline/index.html Ooh, and this is a cool site with all sorts of links to disease history, plague, epidemics, and so forth; a number of diseases are listed individually lower-down on the page: http://www.mic.ki.se/HistDis.html Thanks for prompting me to review polio info! I'm Gonna Get Info-loaded At That Last One Maru ;) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
