Day Care, Siblings, and Asthma — Please, Sneeze on My Child

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Abstract
Parents generally agree that children who attend day care or who have older siblings have more frequent infections. They may be surprised to learn, however, that this tendency may protect their younger children from asthma. In this issue of the Journal, Ball et al.1 describe the relation between these surrogate markers of infection and the risk of asthma. Protection against the development of asthma or frequent wheezing in children 6 to 13 years old was linked to either day-care attendance during infancy or the presence of older siblings in the home. As two-year-olds, the children with either type of exposure . . .