Bugs in lungs after birth may help prevent asthma

Bugs invading the lungs shortly after birth may help prevent asthma in later life, research suggests.

The discovery, made in mice, supports the idea that over-clean conditions early in life can set the stage for asthma and other allergy diseases. According to the “hygiene hypothesis”, some germ exposure is necessary to prime the developing immune system and keep it under control.

Further work could yield radical bacterial treatments for infants aimed at preventing asthma, the scientists believe.