原文標(biāo)題：
The hygiene hypothesis
Pet theories
More evidence that animals reduce childhood allergies
衛(wèi)生假說
寵物理論
更多證據(jù)表明動物能降低兒童過敏癥

Except for hamsters, which make things worse
倉鼠除外

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THE PROBLEM with a catchy name is that sometimes it catches on too well.

有時一個名字太過引人注目，反而會帶來問題。

Take the hygiene hypothesis, outlined in 1989 by David Strachan of St George’s, a hospital and medical school in London.

以衛(wèi)生假說為例，這是由倫敦圣喬治醫(yī)院和醫(yī)學(xué)院的大衛(wèi)·斯特拉徹于1989年提出的假說。

It suggests that the rise of allergenic sensitivity observed in rich countries over the course of the 20th century may have been caused by a corresponding decline in childhood infections, and also by a shift from rural to urban living, so that children are no longer routinely exposed to farm animals.
該假說認(rèn)為，通過觀察，20世紀(jì)發(fā)達(dá)國家的過敏敏感性上升可能是由于童年期的感染相應(yīng)下降以及從農(nóng)村向城市生活的轉(zhuǎn)變所致，因為兒童不常接觸農(nóng)場動物。

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Dr Strachan’s work still has much to recommend it.

斯特拉徹的研究仍然有很多值得推薦之處。

What the catchy label has fostered, however, is an erroneous belief that cleanliness is not necessarily a health benefit.

然而，這個朗朗上口的句子促進(jìn)了一種錯誤的觀念，即“不干不凈，吃了沒病”。

In reality, says Thomas Marrs, a paediatric allergist at Kings College, London, hygiene is usually about bugs causing infection—and the bugs that may be beneficial are different from those which do that.

倫敦國王學(xué)院的兒科過敏癥專家托馬斯·馬斯說，實際上，衛(wèi)生問題通常是致病菌引起的感染問題——益菌可能與致病菌不同。

But it is plain to see why alternative descriptions, such as “the high turnover and diversity hypothesis” or “the microbial deprivation hypothesis”, have not caught on, more accurate though they may be.
但是，為什么“高周轉(zhuǎn)和多樣性假說”或“微生物剝奪假說”等更準(zhǔn)確的描述并沒有流行起來，這是很容易理解的。

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In an attempt to collect further data on the matter, Okabe Hisao of Fukushima Medical University and his colleagues have trawled through the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which tracked over 100,000 pregnancies between 2011 and 2014.

為了進(jìn)一步收集有關(guān)這個問題的數(shù)據(jù)，福島醫(yī)科大學(xué)的岡部久雄和他的同事們翻閱了《日本環(huán)境與兒童研究》，該研究在2011年至2014年間追蹤了10多萬個孕婦。

Pursuing the animal connection, they looked for correlations between household pet ownership before and immediately after a child’s birth, and any food allergies diagnosed in that child’s first three years. They have just published their results in PLOS ONE.
為了追溯過敏癥與動物的聯(lián)系，他們研究了孩子出生前和出生后家中是否養(yǎng)寵物，與孩子在3歲前是否診斷出任何食物過敏癥的相關(guān)性。他們剛剛在《PLOS ONE》雜志上發(fā)表了他們的研究結(jié)果。

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Of the 66,000 or so children they chose to look at, 22% had been born into households with pets, and were thus exposed to microbes and other potential allergens from those animals both before and after birth.

研究者們挑選了約6.6萬名兒童進(jìn)行觀察，其中22%出生在有寵物的家庭，因此這些兒童在出生前后都接觸到這些動物的微生物和其他可能的過敏原。

Children in households with dogs, the researchers found, had lower rates than average of allergies to eggs, milk and nuts.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，養(yǎng)狗家庭中的兒童對雞蛋、牛奶和堅果的過敏率低于平均水平。

Those cohabiting with cats seemed more tolerant of eggs, wheat and soyabeans.

養(yǎng)貓家庭中的兒童似乎對雞蛋、小麥和大豆更具有耐受性。

However, children whose parents kept “turtles” (terrapins, in particular, are popular pets in Japan) appeared unaffected.

然而，養(yǎng)“龜”（尤其是日本頗受歡迎的“水龜”）家庭中的兒童似乎沒有受到影響。

And, curiously, those exposed to hamsters appeared more likely than average to be allergic to nuts.
奇怪的是，有倉鼠家庭中的兒童似乎比平均水平更容易對堅果過敏。

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What exactly all this means is unclear.

這一切到底意味著什么尚不清楚。

One potentially important observation is that both pre- and postpartum exposure were needed for the observed effects to show up. Neither, by itself, was sufficient.

一個可能重要的觀察是，需要在出生前和出生后都接觸才能出現(xiàn)觀察到的效果。單獨接觸某個階段是不夠的。

Possibly, it is the time around birth itself which is the crucial factor, for this is when it is believed that the bulk of a child’s gut flora is established.
可能的原因是，關(guān)鍵因素是妊娠階段，因為人們認(rèn)為這是兒童腸道菌群建立的主要時間。

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There are confounding variables. The researchers themselves point out that pet-owning households are more likely to live in the countryside, with its other sources of immune-system-stimulating factors.

存在混雜變量。研究人員自己指出，養(yǎng)寵物的家庭更可能住在農(nóng)村，那里有其他刺激免疫系統(tǒng)的因素。

And, as Dr Marrs observes, allergy-prone families are less likely to own pets in the first place.

而且，正如馬斯博士所觀察的，易過敏的家庭首先不太可能擁有寵物。

These facts, rather than the presence of companion animals, might explain at least part of the effect.
有這些事實的存在，而不是有寵物的存在，可能至少解釋了部分效應(yīng)。

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Confirming or denying this will need more study.

確認(rèn)或否認(rèn)這一點需要更多的研究。

Nevertheless, Dr Okabe’s contribution is an interesting addition to the debate about Dr Strachan’s brainchild.
然而，岡部的貢獻(xiàn)是對斯特拉徹假說爭論的一個有趣補(bǔ)充。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量519左右）
原文出自：2023年4月1日《The Economist》Science and technology版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
1989 年，來自英國的流行病學(xué)專家大衛(wèi)·斯特羅恩（David Strachan）首次提出了一個全新的醫(yī)學(xué)概念——衛(wèi)生假說（Hygiene hypothesis）。大衛(wèi)在一項兒童的調(diào)查中發(fā)現(xiàn)，家里兄弟姐妹比較多的孩子，患枯草熱和濕疹的概率要比獨生子女更低。大衛(wèi)認(rèn)為，這是因為非獨生子女從小和其他人的接觸機(jī)會更多，更有可能接觸到各式各樣的微生物和寄生蟲等病原體，在這個過程中，他們的免疫系統(tǒng)也得到了鍛煉，發(fā)生過敏性疾病的概率也因此被降低。換句話說，也就是“不干不凈，吃了沒病”在幼年時適當(dāng)感染微生物，反而可以促進(jìn)免疫平衡，在成年后減少某些疾病的發(fā)生。

【重點句子】（3?個）
Children in households with dogs, the researchers found, had lower rates than average of allergies to eggs, milk and nuts.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，養(yǎng)狗家庭中的兒童對雞蛋、牛奶和堅果的過敏率低于平均水平。

Possibly, it is the time around birth itself which is the crucial factor, for this is when it is believed that the bulk of a child’s gut flora is established.
可能的原因是，關(guān)鍵因素是妊娠階段，因為人們認(rèn)為這是兒童腸道菌群建立的主要時間。

And, as Dr Marrs observes, allergy-prone families are less likely to own pets in the first place.
而且，正如馬斯博士所觀察的，易過敏的家庭首先不太可能擁有寵物。