Rural microorganisms reduce the risk of asthma in the city

2019/06/17 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Mikrobiologia
• Osasuna

The presence of microorganisms common in the rural environment in the dust of the homes of the cities reduces the risk of childhood asthma, as a result of a work recently published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The researchers analyzed the dust microbiota of 400 Finnish households. Some houses belonged to the rural area and others to the city, identifying the differences between the two groups. Then, thousands of children from Germany studied the dust of their homes and have seen that, despite living in the city, in cases where the microbiota of dust is similar to the rural one, the risk of asthma is lower.

The researchers have recognized that from this research, it cannot be directly deduced that certain microorganisms protect it from asthma, but environmental microorganisms are directly related to asthma, and that their consideration can be a way to combat it.