調查發現:養狗家庭的嬰兒更健康

A dog could be a baby's best friend, according to a study in the medical journal Pediatrics.

醫學雜誌《兒科學》（Pediatrics）上發佈的一項研究報告顯示，狗可能是嬰兒最好的朋友。

Infants living in households with dogs were healthier and had fewer ear infections than those without a dog, the study found. Researchers also found that cats appeared to offer some protection, but the link wasn't as strong.

該研究發現，養狗家庭的嬰兒比無狗家庭的嬰兒更健康，並且也較少患耳部炎症。研究人員還發現，貓似乎能提供一些保護，但兩者的關聯沒那麼強。

The study, posted online Monday and based on 397 children who lived in rural and suburban parts of Finland, examined whether contact with dogs and cats during a baby's first year offers any protection from respiratory tract infections, such as colds and resulting common ear infections. 'The children having dogs at home were healthier, they had less ear infections and they needed less antibiotics,' said Eija Bergroth, the study's lead author and a pediatrician affiliated with Kuopio University Hospital in Kuopio, Finland.

這份7月9日上線的研究報告追蹤了生活在芬蘭鄉村和郊區的397名兒童，考查了嬰兒一歲以內與貓狗的接觸是否能保護其免遭呼吸道感染的侵害，例如感冒和常見的併發耳部感染。報告首席作者、芬蘭庫奧皮奧大學醫院（Kuopio University Hospital）的兒科大夫艾嘉•伯格羅斯（Eija Bergroth）說，養狗家庭的小孩更健康，他們患耳炎的情況較少，需要的抗生素也比較少。

One measure showed children with dogs were reported as being healthy for about 73% of the time, based on weekly questionnaires, compared with about 65% of children with no dog contact at home. While the study tracked just under 400 babies, the researchers said the results were statistically significant because it relied on weekly questionnaires filled out by parents.

該研究中基於每週問卷調查的統計顯示，養狗家庭小孩約73%的時間都是健康狀態，而無狗家庭小孩的這一比例約爲65%。儘管研究只追蹤了不到400名小孩，但研究者稱這些結果在統計學上具有顯著意義，因爲它依靠的是家長們填寫的每週問卷。

Dr. Bergroth explained that children who lived in households where dogs spent 18 or more hours a day outside, showed the most healthy days, fewer fevers and the least use of antibiotics compared with babies with no dog at home. One theory is dogs that spend a lot of time outside likely bring more dirt and bacteria inside the home compared with dogs and cats that spend more time indoors, she said. Researchers believe that exposure to dirt and bacteria builds up babies' immune systems.

伯格羅斯博士解釋說，與無狗家庭的小孩相比，那些每日在戶外時間18小時以上的狗所屬家庭的小孩健康的天數最多，更少發燒，抗生素的使用也最少。她說，一種理論是，長時間在戶外活動的狗可能比常在室內的狗和貓帶回更多塵土和細菌。研究人員認爲接觸塵土和細菌會增強寶寶的免疫系統。

Researchers found that 97% of babies-whose mothers were enrolled in the study during pregnancy-had a runny nose at some point during the study, most had a cough and about 40% had an ear infection. Nearly half of the children needed antibiotics.

研究人員發現，97%的寶寶──他們的母親在懷孕期間就加入了這項研究──在研究期間出現過流鼻涕的症狀，大部分寶寶患過咳嗽，約40%患過耳炎。將近一半的寶寶需要使用抗生素治療。

Earlier studies using smaller samples of children have shown conflicting results on the impact of animal exposure on infections and allergies, though a study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed children exposed to two or more dogs or cats in their first year had lower chances of later developing all kinds of allergies than children exposed to one or no pets.

早前以較少兒童做樣本的研究得出過相反的結論，認爲接觸動物對炎症和過敏有不良影響，不過一項由美國國立衛生研究院（National Institutes of Health）資助的研究顯示，一歲以前接觸兩隻或更多的狗或貓的小孩日後罹患各類過敏症的機率比只接觸一隻或不接觸寵物的小孩要低得多。

Dr. Bergroth's study involved children who were born at Kuopio University Hospital in Finland between September 2002 and May 2005. The children's parents were given weekly questionnaires from the time their babies were nine weeks old until they were 1 year old. The questionnaires asked if the children had been 'hale and hearty' in the past seven days. If the child wasn't healthy parents were asked to document ailments like fever, cough, runny nose, ear infection, diarrhea, urinary tract infection or rash. Families were also asked each week if they had a dog or a cat at home and how much time the animals spent outside.

伯格羅斯博士研究中的小孩是2002年9月至2005年5月之間在芬蘭庫奧皮奧大學醫院出生的。從孩子九周至一歲，他們的父母每週會收到問卷，調查小孩在過去七天裏是否“生龍活虎”。如果孩子不健康，父母被需要記錄下他們的病情，比如發燒、咳嗽、流鼻涕、耳部炎症、腹瀉、尿路感染或皮疹。問卷同時還問及這些家庭是否養狗或養貓，以及寵物在戶外的活動時長。

The study results were tabulated looking at responses on the weekly questionnaires rather than individual children. Researchers analyzed the data in different ways to rule out other factors that could influence infection rates like breastfeeding, low-birth weight, the number of siblings and whether moms smoked during pregnancy.

研究人員將結果製成表格，研究每週的問卷反饋，而不是單個小孩。研究人員以不同方式分析了數據，從而排除了其他可能影響炎症發生率的因素，比如母乳、低出生體重、兄弟姐妹數量，以及媽媽懷孕期間是否抽菸。