Male1: Dr. Markus, a lot of kids seem to have runny noses and runny eyes and sometimes, you think it is a cold, but it keeps lasting too long. How would know the difference in a cold or that a kid maybe allergic to something?
Male2: Sometimes it is difficult to be able to tell the difference between cold symptoms and allergy symptoms because they are certainly quite similar. One of the major differences is the pattern of illness. Cold symptoms tend to last five to seven days, by ten days, they are gone. Allergy symptoms will linger and last throughout the allergy season and will vary depending on the degree of exposure. The length of time and the repeated nature of symptoms are the most important things to look for when you are trying to tell the difference between a cold and an allergy.
Male1: If a kid had allergies, do we have to give medicine every time the kid has an allergy or you can sometimes, you just let it ride its course, what would be the best approach for this?
Male2: The symptoms of allergies can be runny nose, colds, and coughing and the degree to which we treat those symptoms is dependent upon how uncomfortable the child is and how sick the child becomes. Mild allergy symptoms that are tolerable do not really require any treatment other than trying to minimize exposure to the things that the child is allergic to. More severe allergy symptoms may require treatment because they can be predecessors to things like sinus infection and asthma.
Male1: In a house, are there certain things you could do to make the house less of a problem for a kid with allergies?
Male2: The house is the first area that we focus on when children have allergies because the earliest things children become allergic to are indoor things, such as dust, molds and pets. Eliminating exposure to these things indoor then is a very important part of improving allergy symptoms. Controlling dust is one of our major focuses. We have learned that dust and the constituents of dust are a very important trigger for allergies for children and measures to control dust exposure are things that we review with parents frequently. Some of these measures can be things as easy as cleaning more often. We want to clean the house frequently especially focusing on the child’s bedroom. Try to minimize the use of rugs and carpeting, since these tend to accumulate and attract dust more easily and are more difficult to keep dust free. Eliminating stuffed animals from the children’s room and from their bed is another important thing and a very important place where dust is accumulating and children are exposed is in the mattress, the box spring, the pillows and the bedding. For mattresses and box spring and pillows, we recommend having you put these things, mattress, pillow, box spring into mattress covers that are either made of plastic or vinyl and then totally zip around. By doing these, the mattress is fully encased in the cover and any dust that has accumulated in the mattress will not be exposed to the child. Bedding should be cleaned frequently and should be changed every two to three days. Changing your bedding once every one to two weeks would not be sufficient for maintaining good dust control.
Male1: Are pets a problem?
Male2: Pets can be a severe problem if the child is allergic to pets, or if the child is allergic to pollen and the pets go outdoors. Pet allergies are a common problem—allergies to dogs, cats and even smaller pets like hamsters can lead to serious allergy problems. The allergy is to the dander of the pet and the dander of the pet is adhered to the fur, the saliva and the excretions of the pet. What we recommend is that if possible, the pet should find a new home. If the pet needs to stay in the home for any number of reasons, the pet should never be in the child’s bedroom, never be handled by the child and one should always clean their hands thoroughly whenever handling the pet.
Male1: If a kid is allergic to maybe a dog, is a short-haired dog possibly not such a bad thing to have?
Male2: It is a common misconception that there are dogs that are allergy-proof. This is really not true. Since the allergy is to the dander, it does not make any difference how long the hair is, the dander is still excreted by the dog. Short-haired dogs will shed less so the hair will spread less easily to parts of the house, but any exposure to the dog still can trigger allergy symptoms.
Male1: If the kid is allergic, are there any treatments that maybe made to the kid, say some things that you know the kid is allergic to?
Male2: There are two approaches to treating allergies, one approach is to use medications to treat the symptoms, but treating the symptoms of allergies does not change the fact that the patient remains allergic to those substances and so the medications become chronically needed whenever symptoms occur. The other approach is to desensitize the patient that is to use allergy shots to decrease the sensitivity of the patient to the allergen. By doing this, the patient will eventually be able to tolerate exposures to the allergen without developing symptoms.
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