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Background: The association between pet exposure in infancy, early childhood eczema, and FLG mutations remains unclear. Methods: This was a birth cohort study performed in Tokyo, Japan. The primary outcome was current eczema based on questionnaire responses collected repeatedly from birth to 5 years of age. Generalized estimating equations and generalized linear modeling were used to evaluate the association. Results: Data from 1448 participants were used for analyses. Household dog ownership during gestation, early infancy, and 18 months of age significantly reduced the risk of current eczema. Household cat ownership also reduced the risk of current eczema, albeit without statistical significance. The combined evaluation of children from households with pets, be it cats, dogs or both, the risk of current eczema at 1–5 years of age was lower in those with household pet exposure ownership during gestation (RR = 0.59, 95 % CI 0.45–0.77) and at 6 months (RR = 0.49, 95 % CI 0.36–0.68). , Reduced risks of eczema were also observed at 2–5 (RR = 0.52, 95 % CI 0.37–0.73) and 3–5 years of age (RR = 0.50 95 % CI 0.35–0.74) when the respective household pet ownership were evaluated at 18 months and 3 years of age. These protective associations of reduced risk of eczema were only observed in children without FLG mutations. Conclusions: Household dog and pet (dog, cat, or both) ownership was protective against early childhood eczema in a birth cohort dataset. This protective association was observed only in children without FLG mutations, which should be confirmed in studies with larger cohorts.

Background: Non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergies (non-IgE-GIFAs) seem to be increasing rapidly worldwide. However, nationwide studies have been limited to food-protein-induced enterocolitis (FPIES) and food-protein-induced allergic proctocolitis (FPIAP), with little attention to other non-IgE-GIFA subgroups. The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinical features of all patients with non-IgE-GIFAs, not just certain subgroups. Methods: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of non-IgE-GIFAs in Japan from April 2015 through March 2016. A questionnaire was sent to hospitals and clinics throughout Japan. The questionnaire asked about the number of physician-diagnosed non-IgE-GIFA patients, the status of fulfillment of the diagnostic criteria, tentative classification into 4 clusters based on the initial symptoms, the day of onset after birth, complications, and the suspected offending food(s). Results: The response rate to that questionnaire was 67.6% from hospitals and 47.4% from clinics. Analyses were conducted about “diagnosis-probable” patient cohort (n = 402) and the “diagnosis-confirmed” patients (n = 80). In half of the reported non-IgE-GIFA patients, onset occurred in the neonatal period. The patients were evenly distributed among 4 non-IgE-GIFA clusters. In Cluster 1, with symptoms of vomiting and bloody stool, the onset showed a median of 7 days after birth, which was the earliest among the clusters. Cow's milk was the most common causative food. Conclusions: In half of the patients, the onset of non-IgE-GIFAs was in the neonatal period. This highlights the importance of studying the pathogenesis in the fetal and neonatal periods.