A new study , published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology , suggests that babies whose pacifiers were sterilized with an antiseptic solution were more likely to have a diagnosed food allergy by the age of one year.
The study compared pacifier use and cleaning methods among infants at six months of age and those with a confirmed food allergy at one year of age in more than 700 participants .
Increased allergies
The research found no increased risk of food allergy at one year of age among pacifier users when pacifiers were washed with tap water, boiling water, put in the parent’s mouth, or not washed at all before giving them to babies at six months of age. Only if they were sterilized with an antiseptic solution .
It appears that the link between spaying and food allergies could lie in good bacteria in babies’ mouths and guts, which could help prevent food allergies. Therefore, it is believed that disinfecting pacifiers with antiseptics could disrupt the gut and oral microbiome, which are the good bacteria that have been linked to healthy growth and development and less risk of food allergies .
Since food allergies often cause life-threatening anaphylaxis and affect up to 10 percent of babies, more research is required to understand how to prevent allergies, and this would be a good starting point in this regard.