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Hygiene Hypothesis Questioned

  • February 19, 2004

A new study questions the well-known hygiene hypothesis, which states that raising children in an overly clean environment leads to the development of asthma, as researchers found that infection with a flu virus increases the risk of developing allergic disease. The finding could undermine the key tenet of the hygiene hypothesis: that being infected with viruses protects against other diseases. However, others in the field say the paper does little to challenge the theory because: It...