The truth behind allergies, pregnant women, newborns and pets

Despite being allergic to cats, Miss Lee Anfen’s (李安芬) three-year-old daughter Hsuan-hsuan happily enjoys playing with cats. Ever since she was born, Hsuan-hsuan has lived together with the family’s 12 cats, all of which were stray cats found in the local neighborhood and brought home by Miss Lee. In her childhood, Miss Lee was affected by serious allergies, and so on discovering she was pregnant with Hsuan-hsuan she became very worried that her daughter would inherit a similar allergic trait. However, after taking into considering her own positive experiences with raising pet cats, Miss Lee very much hoped that her daughter could have the opportunity of enjoying growing up alongside cute little kitties. 

Zhang En-kai (張恩愷), veterinary surgeon at En-jai Animal Hospital (恩家動物醫院) said that according to studies, raising pets in one’s childhood, or from when one is still in the mother’s womb has been shown to be very beneficial to children, and helps to reduce the incidence of pet allergies in children. In addition, as long as pregnant women take protective measures, they do not have to worry about infection from the parasitic disease Toxoplasmosis. Veterinary physician Zhang En-kai further commented that pregnant mother’s can take the additional preventative measure of going to their local birth clinic to get a toxoplasma gondii antibody test, as well as take the family pets for a check-up. He also recommended that pregnant women remember to wash their hands before eating, avoid eating raw meat and lettuce, walking barefoot, working with soil without gloves, and cleaning the cat's litter.

PeoPo 公民新聞 by 關懷生命協會

The truth behind allergies, pregnant women, newborns and pets
URL:http://www.peopo.org/news/108965

過敏out? 孕婦、新生兒和寵物的相處之道

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李安芬小姐三歲大的女兒璇璇正在開心的和貓咪玩耍，璇璇其實是位過敏兒。璇璇從小就和十二隻貓咪共同生活，而這些貓咪都是李小姐在家中附近帶回來的流浪貓。李小姐自己從小也是個嚴重的過敏兒，在懷璇璇的時候就十分擔心女兒會遺傳自己的過敏體質，但因為過去與動物相處的經驗，所以她非常希望女兒能和貓咪一同快樂成長。

恩家動物醫院的張恩愷醫師表示，根據研究，從小、或從孕婦的時候開始養寵物的話，其實對於小孩子反而比較好，他們過敏的機會反而會比較降低。而且孕婦只要做好防護措施，就不必擔心「弓漿蟲」的傳染問題，張恩愷醫師也提供其他預防「弓漿蟲」傳染的建議，包括要準備懷孕的媽媽可以先去婦產科做弓漿蟲的抗體的檢驗、也替家中寵物作檢查，另外孕婦也要避免吃生肉，生菜或光著腳、赤著手去玩土、不洗手吃東西，也避免清貓咪的大小便等等。