Association of Specific Allergen Sensitization with Socioeconomic Factors and Allergic Disease in a Population of Boston Women

ownership and allergic disease, leading to the widely accepted recommendation of refraining or removal of pets from the home. The current study, as well as others, found that pet ownership may have a protective effect against the development of allergic disease. Children who were exposed to pets at birth had a lower prevalence of allergic rhinitis, asthma, and infant eczema, although this study did not account for those families who did not own pets because of a family history of atopy. This would lead to selection bias because those families without a history of atopy would be more likely to own pets. Also, the number of participants with pet exposure was low (22%), and results may differ in a population with a higher prevalence of pet ownership.