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Feb 17, 2009, 15:08 GMT

Scientists trace cowshed germs which protect against allergies

Berlin - Two of the cowshed germs that immunize many farm children against allergies have been tracked down, scientists said in Berlin Tuesday, adding that the bacteria might be used in future as a vaccine. A study of Austrian, German and Swiss children has found that village children in the Alps who have no early contact with cows are far more likely to develop hay fever and allergies to house dust than farm children who are exposed to those bacteria. Scientists injected Lactococcus lactis, which is found in untreated milk, and Acinetobacter lwoffi, found in muck on cowshed floors, into the noses of laboratory mice. The mice did not become sick later when exposed to allergenic substances. Erika von Mutius, a professor at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, said, 'I hope we can develop a vaccine before the time when I retire in 15 years.' The study, code-named GABRIEL, is to seek other cow-shed germs that have a similar effect. Up to one quarter of Germans suffer from allergies, which usually cause itchy skin or the running nose of hay fever. Von Mutius called for more funding by government and industry for the efforts to discover a vaccine. 'At the moment, not one single big drug company is willing to support us,' she said in Berlin.

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