Allergies linked to baby's birthplace, gut bugs

[Celebration]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/us-allergies-linked-idUSTRE78T3FK20110930

The researchers found that C. difficile, a type of bacteria known to spread in hospitals, was most commonly seen in the intestines of babies born by cesarean section. Forty-three percent of them harbored C. difficile in their feces, compared to 27 percent of babies born vaginally in the hospital and 19 percent of those born at home.

Researchers said that while babies born vaginally get their first gut bacteria from their moms -- in the birth canal and through other direct contacts -- C-section babies are first exposed to bacteria on doctors' and nurses' skin, or from other places in the delivery room.

And that early first exposure to bacteria, they found, could have later implications. Kids who tested positive for C. difficile as babies were twice as likely to have asthma at age six or seven, and were also more likely to have eczema or a food "sensitization."

In all, about seven percent of kids had asthma, close to 22 percent had the warning signs of a food allergy and 12 percent recently had eczema.

Gut microbes are known to regulate and influence important aspects of immune functioning throughout body.