Last Updated on Sunday, 08 March 2009 18:20

New research this week from Sweden has suggested that children who suffered from an infection of measles have a lower chance of developing allergies later in life.

Dr Helen Rosenlund, a researcher at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute noted in her study that children between the ages of 5 and 13 were much less likely to be affected by allergies if they had had measles.

However, the results were only significant for children who had contracted the measles virus naturally; those vaccinated against the infection had the same chance of developing allergies as other children.

The measles virus is highly infectious, particularly in young children. Measles symptoms include bouts of coughing, feverish temperatures and of course, the trademark reddy-brown spots. The virus is spread through droplets of saliva which can be passed through direct contact or through close proximity of someone sneezing or coughing.

In the main, measles is nothing more than an irritant to be endured by young children, as the spots are incredibly itchy. The body’s natural defence system usually deals with the virus after two weeks and the child should develop immunity to measles.

In rare cases however, measles can lead to pneumonia, ear infections, lung infections or death. The virus claims the lives of over 1 million people each year.

Dr Rosenlund’s research showed that children who had been exposed to measles had a greater chance of being immune to allergies as their immune systems were boosted through dealing with the measles virus. In her paper which was submitted to the Pedriactics medical journal, Dr Rosenlund found that: “Inverse associations were observed between measles infection and “any allergic symptom” and “any diagnosis of allergy by a physician.”

However, no associations were found between measles vaccination and allergic disease. Dr Rosenlund confirmed in her conclusion the belief that: “Our data suggest that measles infection may protect against allergic disease in children.”

Nearly 15,000 children were used as a sample for the research from Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland. According to the results, 73 per cent of the children had been inoculated with a measles vaccine, whilst 20 per cent of the sample had contracted the virus (including 11 per cent of those who had been vaccinated). The test results showed 14 per cent of the children had not been inoculated but had managed to avoid contracting the virus. Among those who had contracted the virus naturally, the children showed a significantly lower proportion of allergic dispositions, particularly with nasal allergies such as hay fever.

The results are far from conclusive however. Dr Rosenlund’s research contradicts previous results found by the PARSIFAL study which found no significant link between measles and allergies.

Despite the findings of Dr Rosenlund, doctors still recommended parents get their child vaccinated against measles with the MMR vaccine.

If your child does happen to suffer from allergies there are a number of things you can do to reduce the effect on their health. Installing an air filter or dehumidifier will keep the air your child breathes dust free and dry, which dust mites cannot tolerate.

Removing carpets and curtains from a house, replacing them instead with throw rugs and blinds will also significantly reduce the amount of dust, pollen and mould in your home, making it an allergy-free zone.