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The Hygiene Hypothesis

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Environmental Influences on the Immune System

Abstract

Over the past decades, an increase of the prevalence of allergic diseases has been observed in Western countries. The hygiene hypothesis proposes that viral, bacterial, or helminth infections; environments with high levels of microbial components, such as farms; and the nutrition are preventive against the development of allergies despite the same genetic predisposition. The timing of these exposures is crucial. The critical window of time starts already in utero and ends in school age depending on the kind of exposure. The underlying immunological mechanism of such exposures seems rather to include the induction of regulatory processes to control the allergic reaction than to prevent the production of IgE.

In this chapter, we review the best understood exposures together with the timing and the immunological mechanisms they induce to get the most preventive effect on the development of allergic diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Allergy/Immunology, Children’s Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Caroline Roduit

  2. Department of Allergy/Immunology, Christine Kühne-Center for Allergy Research and Education, Davos, Switzerland

    Caroline Roduit

  3. Christine Kühne-Center for Allergy Research and Education, Davos, Switzerland

    Remo Frei & Roger Lauener

  4. Molecular Immunology, Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Remo Frei

  5. Department of Asthma and Allergy, Dr von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Erika von Mutius

  6. Children’s Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Roger Lauener

Authors
  1. Caroline Roduit
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  2. Remo Frei
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  3. Erika von Mutius
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  4. Roger Lauener
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline Roduit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Düsseldorf, IUF–Leibniz Res Inst for Env Med, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Charlotte Esser

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Roduit, C., Frei, R., von Mutius, E., Lauener, R. (2016). The Hygiene Hypothesis. In: Esser, C. (eds) Environmental Influences on the Immune System. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1890-0_4

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