Does Germ Exposure Increase Immunity in Kids?

How Immunity Works

• The body has several levels of defense against germs, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. When a recognized germ comes in contact with the system, it wipes that germ out without causing any undue harm to the rest of the body systems. Many germs don't affect the body or immune system at all, while others cause reactions that take over more than one body system. To have immunity over a germ means that the body can fight it and its effects off and recover with little trouble, if any at all.

The Pox Party Approach

• One way that parents try to build immunity to childhood diseases is to control the children's exposure to the pathogen. Chickenpox is an example. It is a childhood disease that children recover from more easily than adults do. To ensure that their children have immunity to the condition, parents will try to host pox parties where one child infected with the chickenpox is encouraged to interact with other children who are healthy. By exposing the healthy kids to the chickenpox, the parents hope to create immunity in each child to the disease. The problem is that many of the parties are illegal, a violation of the bioterrorism laws, according to the National Reyes Syndrome Foundation. In addition to the legal implications, the disease itself is very serious and contagious. Not all children recover and the disease can be inadvertently passed to adults in the household, causing a very serious condition.

Hygiene Hypothesis

• According to the WGBH Educational Foundation, as reported on PBS.org, the hygiene hypothesis states that kids who are exposed to more germs, animals and other kids in their daily environments are less prone to respiratory ailments and allergies than kids who are not exposed to the germs every day. The hygiene hypothesis originated in the 1990s when researcher Erika Von Mutius studied the difference in immunity found between children living in West Germany and East Germany. The children in the East were living in a poorer, less hygienic environment than the kids in the West. However, the eastern children had less instances of asthma, allergies and related illnesses, despite the western environment's cleaner, more modern state. Thus, going against conventional belief that cleaner environments were best for all children, Mutius created the hygiene hypothesis.

Germ Exposure and Immunity

• Exposing your kids to germs to increase immunity is a risky act that can be illegal in the case of pox parties. No matter by which method of so-called "controlled" exposure you choose to introduce the kids to the microbes, you cannot control the outcome of the exposure, which could include catching a serious illness, having a bad reaction to the illness or infecting others in the family, who may have a more serious reaction to the germs than you do. You must consider the risks of exposing the child to any germ before deciding to do so.