Pets and siblings fend off allergies

KEEPING a pet, living on a farm or having brothers and sisters all help to protect children against the risk of developing allergies, according to latest research.

But a previously held belief that suffering from infectious diseases early in life also had a protective effect did not prove to be true, Danish researchers claimed.

Their study, published in the British Medical Journal, was based on interviews with more than 24,000 women before and after the birth of their children.