the environment. ..a study carried out in England has proven.

Dr. Jill Warner of the University of Southampton has been looking at environmental factors and how they affect the fetus during the development of the immune system. The results show that as early as 22 weeks in the womb some babies are already allergic to dust mites and cats! "They definitely found that in the pregnancy that dust mite is the allergen very much connected with the eczema,'' said Liz Boden of the Nurses Practice in Bermuda.

During her research in England, Dr. Warner had cord blood taken for allergy testing at birth and the first finding was that all babies with positive allergy tests had a family history of allergies. In other words parents, grandparents and siblings had allergic medical problems such as asthma, eczema and rhinitis. All this confirms that allergy in children is hereditary, said Mrs. Boden, a nurse educator and asthma instructor who works on prevention and education.

The next finding was that no baby tested positive to cats without having been exposed to cats in the second half of pregnancy. The results confirm that primary prevention starts before the birth of the baby and continues until the baby is six months old.

"The next part of the research was to put at risk families, i.e. those with a strong family history of allergy, into a special apartment created for this research project,'' said Mrs. Boden.

"The apartment had no carpets, new beds and pillows with dust mite covers.

There were no pets and no chemicals were used to clean the apartment and no smoking was allowed.

"Each baby tested for allergies at birth was found to have negative allergy testing, proving that despite a strong family history, if the baby is not exposed to high risk allergens during pregnancy then the child is much less likely to develop allergic diseases. These babies have been followed and so far none have asthma or eczema.'' Mrs. Boden is very excited about the findings, but warned that young children are still very much at risk for allergies. She says if there is a family history of asthma or allergy, there are some things that should or should not be done to reduce the risk: Do not have any cats, dogs or birds in your bedroom.

If possible, do not have pets in your home, but if this is not possible then remove them from all rooms except the kitchen.

Buy new pillows.

Cover pillows and mattresses with dust mite covers.

If possible, remove the bedroom carpet. If not possible, professionally clean carpets at 20 weeks and at 38 weeks of pregnancy to remove as many dust mites as possible.

Vacuum carpet thoroughly at least twice a week. Do not use a vacuum with a soft bag as this helps to spread the dust mites.

Remove any unnecessary pillows, cushions and stuffed toys from the bedroom.

Do not smoke or allow any smoking in your home.

Do not use perfume or any household sprays.

Clean your home with a damp cloth, vinegar and water or liquid cleaners, oils or waxes. Vacuum, do not sweep.

Do not buy bumper pads, quilts or stuffed toys for your baby. Keep the bedroom simple.

Breast-feed your baby for six months.

Do not eat peanuts in any form during pregnancy or lactation.

Do not have your baby in the spring when pollen counts are high. Do not bring Easter Lillies into your home.

Mrs. Boden, a paediatric nurse, attends world asthma conferences every year.

Recent findings suggested that even bathing babies in the first six months could affect the baby's natural lubricant on the skin which is very porous.

"When I was at the last World Asthma Conference in London, a very interesting doctor from Finland spoke,'' said Mrs. Boden.

"In Finland they don't bathe their babies until their first birthday, but you can't say that in Bermuda because everyone would die! But in Finland they stopped bathing their babies and just sponged them.

"They found that when they stopped bathing the babies they cut down on the eczema tremendously. It's not the bath water but what we put in the bath water that's the problem.'' Children at risk Mrs. Boden noted how it was the old fashion remedies from grandma that seemed to work best. Today there are bubble baths, lotions, creams, powders and wipes for babies that may be doing more harm that most people realise.

"They showed pictures of people in Africa and Aborigines in Australia, very poor people bathing in rivers, but just look at their beautiful skin,'' she noted.

"Have they ever heard of a dermatologist, bubble baths, astringents to keep their pores open? At the Nurses Practice we tell people no wipes, no lotions, no creams and if you have dry skin the only thing we use is 100 percent pure olive oil.

"Bermudians have used olive oil for generations. If you look back in old Bermuda books that was the only thing they put on their babies. I think we have to go back to what grandma did.'' Mrs. Boden suffered badly from asthma and eczema as a child growing up in England, and has made it her mission to educate others on the allergies. "We think eczema is hereditary, but maybe we can cut down the incidents of it tremendously,'' she says with optimism.

"Why are we seeing so many people with eczema, we don't know.'' Cute kittens?: Well studies have shown that as early as 22 weeks in the womb some babies are already allergic to cats!