Common Indoor Allergens
You may not necessarily see them, but indoor allergens are all around you and could be triggering your child's asthma at home, school, and other indoor environments. While it may be difficult to completely eradicate these allergens, you can take steps to pinpoint and reduce them in your child's environment. (See Chapters 11 and 15.)
Dust Mites
You might be astonished to know that your child could be sharing his bed with anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites every night. These tiny organisms, which are invisible to the naked eye, are related to spiders and live in all homes — including in upholstered furniture, carpeting, and bedding in your home. These dust mites thrive in warm, humid environments — eating dead skin cells from humans and their pets.
Fact
The dust mites leave behind residue in the form of their excrement — at about 200 times its weight — and decaying bodies. These blend in with household dust and become airborne. While this dust mite residue is harmless to those not allergic to it, it could be problematic for your asthmatic child, especially if she is already sensitive to it.
Your child could be especially prone to asthma attacks at night if he's lounging on a mite-infested sofa or sleeping in a mite-infested bed.
From 1998 to 2002, the federal government conducted an extensive survey, called the National Survey of Lead and Allergens in Housing, to assess how widespread these indoor allergens were in American homes. The researchers found that more than 46 percent of the homes surveyed had levels of dust mite allergens high enough to produce allergic reactions, and nearly a fourth had levels high enough to trigger asthma symptoms in individuals who were genetically susceptible.
Taking measures to decrease the number of dust mites in your home — through cleaning, storing, vacuuming, and reevaluating furnishings — could improve control of your child's asthma, along with use of prescribed medications.
If your child's symptoms are difficult to control, your health care provider may recommend allergy shots or immunotherapy to provide desensitization to the dust mites.
Cockroaches
Allergies related to cockroaches also are common among children. Cockroach allergens come from several sources such as their saliva, fecal material, secretions, cast skins, and dead bodies.
The National Survey of Lead and Allergens in Housing also showed that nearly two-thirds of U.S. homes have detectable levels of cockroach allergens, with higher levels in high-rise apartments, urban settings, older homes, and low-income households. About 10 percent had cockroach allergen levels above the threshold for triggering asthma symptoms. Most homes in Northeastern cities had high levels of cockroach allergens.
Essential
You can take steps to reduce your child's exposure to cockroach allergens by eating only in the kitchen and dining room, frequently vacuuming and dusting, putting non-refrigerated items in sealed containers, keeping the garbage closed off and taking out the garbage on a daily basis, and blocking holes or gaps where cockroaches move in and out of walls.
Researchers have found that these cleaning practices, combined with proven extermination techniques and consistent maintenance methods, can bring these allergen levels under control.
Molds
Indoor molds and mildew can make themselves at home anywhere in your home — from damp basements to under the kitchen sink to along the bathroom windows. With mold, the triggers are the small spores that are released.
However, once molds are detected, they usually can easily be removed. Sometimes it's with a little elbow grease and a cleaning solution made with 5 percent bleach and a little detergent. If molds are found in your household on items such as carpeting or wallpaper, those items should be thrown away.
To avoid mold buildup, repair any external leaks (such as roofs or basement walls) and internal leaks (such as pipes or condensation). Ensure that the crawl space is dry and has plastic covering over it. Avoid storing damp clothing, shoes, newspapers, or other household items in damp areas of your home. Do not place carpets on cement floors as mold can accumulate underneath. And consider use of dehumidifiers in damp areas (such as basements) in your home. But remember to clean them periodically — or you could end up with even more mold.
Endotoxins
Recent research has discovered the presence of bacteria in household dust that produces chemicals, called endotoxins, which can trigger asthma and asthma-related symptoms. The research on the impact of these endotoxins on children with asthma is still limited.
However, researchers with NIEHS found that kitchen and living room floors had the highest concentrations of endotoxins. They found, though, that the likelihood of having recent asthma symptoms was nearly three times greater among individuals with exposure to high levels of endotoxins in the bedroom.
Overall, the study indicates that it is not just the concentration of the endotoxins that matters, but other factors such as duration of exposure, timing of the exposure, and genetic factors that can trigger asthma symptoms.
