Bed Dust Microorganisms May Boost Children's Health

In the most extensive study of its kind, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with the Danish Pediatric Asthma Center at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, have found a link between microorganisms living in the dust of children's beds and the children's own bacteria.

The correlation suggests that microorganisms may reduce a child's risk of developing asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases later on in life. Invisible to the human eye, our beds are teeming with microbial life. It is life that, especially during early childhood, can affect how microorganisms in our bodies develop, and thereby how resilient we become to various diseases.

To get a better grasp of this relationship, researchers at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Biology and the Danish Pediatric Asthma Center analyzed bed dust samples from the beds of 577 infants before comparing them with respiratory samples from 542 children.