Messy Housekeeping May Be Good For Infants

Early-life exposure to certain indoor fungal components can help build stronger immune systems and may protect against future allergies, says a U.S. study.

University of Cincinnati researchers say they have confirmed what other scientists have only suspected -- that maybe being a fussy housekeeper isn't such a good thing after all.

The study, published in the journal Allergy, found that infants who were exposed to high levels of indoor fungal components were nearly three times less likely to wheeze compared with infants exposed to low levels.

Crawling infants are often exposed to these molecules when they disturb dust on home carpet or floors, according to lead author Yulia Iossifova.

"The immune system's protective effects only appear to occur when there are high levels of microbial exposure," Iossifova said in a statement. "Cleaner environments do not have enough microbial components to trigger the immune system response."