Project to assess impact of antibacterial products on child immunity

Concerns that antibacterial cleaning products are weakening the natural immunity of children against diseases will be assessed by a Euro 6m research project involving 7,000 children in Finland, Estonia and north-western Russia's Karelia.

All three test areas have similar ethnic backgrounds, but widely differing standards of living and domestic cleanliness.

The DIABIMMUNE study will follow more than 300 children from birth to three-years-old and 2,000 from three to five-years-old to see whether their immune systems have been weakened by low bacteria exposure.

Anecdotal evidence suggests such a link: previous studies found Finnish children are six times more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than children across Russia. This is despite both nationalities having equal amounts of human leukocyte antigen gene variants, predisposing them to autoimmune diseases, said a European Commission briefing note.

Project co-ordinator Professor Mikael Knip, of the University of Helsinki, said the study would yield information on "the interaction between the immune system and the environment".