99th Dahlem Conference on Infection, Inflammation and Chronic Inflammatory Disorders: Controversial aspects of the ‘hygiene hypothesis’
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Summary: The ‘hygiene hypothesis’ proposes that the epidemic of allergic and autoimmune diseases is due to changes in the interactions between humans and the microbes of their ecosystem. This theory apparently does not explain (i) why allergic asthma is rising in ‘unhygienic’ American inner cities; (ii) why allergic diseases are less prevalent among migrants' children living in European big cities; (iii) why infections with airborne viruses do not ‘protect’ from allergic sensitization; (iv) why the inverse association between some infections (e.g. hepatitis A virus) and allergic diseases has been reproduced in some populations, but not in others; and (v) why probiotics are not effective in the prevention and therapy of allergic diseases. These challenging questions are useful starting points to improve our understanding of the hypothesis, and to identify among the infectious agents those really responsible for a protective influence against atopic and autoimmune diseases.
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Activities such as hiking promote microbial diversity, which is essential for immune resilience.
“Activities such as hiking promote microbial diversity, which is essential for immune resilience, whereas urbanization and limited natural exposure have been associated with increased chronic disease risk [41,42,43,44,45,46,47].”
Urbanization and limited natural exposure have been associated with increased chronic disease risk.
“Activities such as hiking promote microbial diversity, which is essential for immune resilience, whereas urbanization and limited natural exposure have been associated with increased chronic disease risk [41,42,43,44,45,46,47].”
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Exposure to farming in early life and development of asthma and allergy: a cross-sectional survey
Riedler, J., Braun-Fahrländer, C., Eder, W., Schreuer, M., Waser, M., Maisch, S., Carr, D., Schierl, R., Nowak, D., & von Mutius, E. (2001) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)06252-3 · Cited by 1,520 · see citing works
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The environmental microbiome, allergic disease, and asthma
Kelly, M. S., Bunyavanich, S., Phipatanakul, W., & Lai, P. S. (2022) · The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice · doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2022.06.006 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Aliberti, S. M., & Capunzo, M. (2025) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17040722 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Activities such as hiking promote microbial diversity, which is essential for immune resilience, whereas urbanization and limited natural exposure have been associated with increased chronic disease risk [41–47].”
- Authors
- Matricardi, P. M.
- Affiliations
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Matricardi, P M
- ORCID
- Matricardi, P M
- Venue
- Clinical and Experimental Immunology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2010-03-11
- Volume
- 160
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 98-105
- ISSN
- 0009-9104 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2249
- PMC
- PMC2841842
- OpenAlex
- W1590507044
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 0.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Clinical & Experimental Immunology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Asthma and respiratory diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Immunology and Allergy › Allergic Rhinitis and Sensitization
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Dermatology and Skin Diseases
- Keywords
- hygiene hypothesis, allergic diseases, autoimmune disease, atopic diseases, infection and allergy, airborne viruses, hepatitis A virus, probiotics, allergic asthma, migrant children, microbial exposure, chronic inflammatory diseases
- MeSH terms
- Asthma, Autoimmune Diseases, Child, Emigration and Immigration, Europe, Humans, Hygiene, Hypersensitivity, Infant, United States, Virus Diseases, Probiotics
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