Allergies 

The air we breathe is filled with pollen, pol­lutants, and dust. Most children and adults are unaffected by these intruders. For a large number of children, however, these simple contaminants can make life miser­able. Sometimes ingredients in foods or contact with pets trigger a reaction in these hypersensitive children.

Many youngsters react to so-called aller­gens (dust, pollen, mold, foods, or animal dander) with sneezing, runny noses, itch­ing eyes, skin rashes, wheezing, and other symptoms. Some may feel as if they have a cold that never seems to go away.

These children suffer from allergic symp­toms, which affect as many as one in every six youngsters and disrupt day-to-day activities at home, school, and play.

The immune system of allergic children overreacts to substances that are normally quite harmless. When an allergic child comes in contact with an allergen—dust, for instance—his body produces an anti­body to it. This antibody sets off a series of bodily processes that ultimately trigger the allergic response.

There are many things to which children may be allergic. An animal's dander (skin), not its hair, can cause allergic symptoms in some children. So can foods like cow's milk, peanuts, fish, shellfish, nuts, and eggs, which can trigger symptoms like hives, di­arrhea, severe vomiting, wheezing, or even shock. Some specific allergic symptoms (such as asthma, hay fever, and eczema) will be discussed later.

If your child has allergic symptoms that are particularly bothersome or difficult to control, your pediatrician may refer him to a medical specialist called an allergist. As well as examining your child, the allergist will want to know when symptoms began, what medications have been tried, and the potential allergens (such as pets or pollen) that may exist in or around your home.

The most effective component of treat­ment is for your child to avoid the substances to which he is allergic. For many children, dust mites (microscopic insects that live in house dust) are the source of their allergic symptoms. If dust mites are the problem, you should thoroughly clean your child's bedroom and the rest of your home. Here are some suggestions to help your young­ster avoid the most common allergens:

• If your home has a forced-air heating system, replace the furnace filters fre­quently, or install an electrostatic filter in the system. A less expensive alter­native is to use a room air purifier.
• Vacuum and clean more often than you might otherwise do, especially the child's bedroom, as this is where he spends the most time. If possible, vac­uum floors and furniture daily, with a thorough house-cleaning scheduled at least once a week. Use a damp mop to clean up dust rather than push it around. If possible, avoid wall-to-wall carpeting in your home.
• Keep animals with fur or feathers out of the house, even if your child has tested negative on scratch tests for an­imal allergies. Youngsters can easily develop sensitivity to animal danders.
• Avoid products with strong odors like perfume, mothballs, tar, paints, and camphor.
• Do not smoke cigarettes in the house, the car, or near your child—for the sake of your child's allergies and your own health.
• Keep the doors and windows of your child's bedroom closed as much as possible, especially when the room is not being used.
• Place plastic covers over mattresses and box springs. Use foam, not feather, pillows. Avoid fuzzy, dust-catching wool blankets or wool comforters. Choose a smooth-finished cotton or synthetic fabric bedspread.
• Remove stuffed animals from your child's room.
• Read the labels on medications, look­ing for ingredients that may have caused allergic reactions in the past.

Frequently, allergic symptoms can be re­lieved, at least partially, by the use of med­ication. The most common medications to treat nasal symptoms are antihistamines. Sometimes a decongestant may also be rec­ommended. More troublesome or persistent nasal symptoms can be helped by other medications prescribed by your pe­diatrician or allergist.

Allergists may also conduct skin or scratch tests to determine the particular allergen to which your child is reacting. In this test, the doctor will scratch your child's skin and then place a small amount of the suspected substance onto the scratched surface. The doctor may test several substances at the same time, and if your child is allergic to one or more of them, antibodies will trigger a reaction in the skin, causing red patches to appear.

After the allergen has been identified, the allergist might recommend allergy shots if the symptoms are sufficiently trouble­some. These injections carefully and grad­ually increase your child's exposure and resistance to the allergens to which he is sensitive. As that happens, the immune system's sensitivity to the allergen may slowly subside. Eventually, when your child routinely encounters the allergen in his day-to-day life, he will respond with fewer symptoms.

Allergies tend to run in families. Some children seem to outgrow their allergies as they become older; for others, however, allergies are a lifelong problem. There is no way to predict which pattern your child will follow.