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To the Editor: Dr Ownby and colleagues¹ found that exposure to 2 or more dogs and cats resulted in decreased allergic sensitization among children followed up between birth and 6 to 7 years. Curiously, keeping a single pet provided no protection compared with keeping no pets. However, Ownby et al did not discuss this apparent absence of a dose-reponse relationship. One might expect that a second dog or cat would not contribute vastly more endotoxin or specific allergen than in a household with only 1 pet.

It may be worth considering a variety of explanations other than an antigen threshold effect. For instance, families that own more than 1 pet may live in larger homes (correlating with higher family income or likelihood of professional cleaning) or live further from the city center (which may correlate with less exposure to air pollution).

Patrick Whelan, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatric Rheumatology
MassGeneral . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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