Dogs aren't just man's best friend. Previous studies have shown…

Dogs aren't just man's best friend. Previous studies have shown that kids with dogs are less likely to develop asthma. Now a new study may show how—if results from mice apply to us. The work was presented at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. The study tests what’s called the 1 hypothesis. The idea is that extreme cleanliness may actually promote disease later on. Researchers collected dust from homes that had a dog. They fed that house dust to mice. They then infected the mice with a 2 childhood infection called 3 syncytial virus—or RSV.