Children are magnets for colds. But when the sniffles and sneezing won’t go away for weeks, the culprit may be something else: allergies, says the US Food and Drug Administration.

Long-lasting sneezing, with a stuffy or runny nose may signal the presence of allergic rhinitis — the collection of symptoms that affect the nose when you have an allergic reaction to something you breathe and that lands on the lining inside the nose.

Allergies may be seasonal or they can strike year-round (perennial). In most parts of the US, plant pollens are often the cause of seasonal allergic rhinitis — more commonly called hay fever. Indoor substances, such as mold, dust and mites can cause the perennial kind.

Up to 40 per cent of children suffer from allergic rhinitis, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. And children are more likely to develop allergies if one or both parents have allergies.

The FDA regulates both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medicines that offer allergy relief as well as allergen extracts used to diagnose and treat allergies. And parents should take particular care when giving these products to children, and make sure the medicine is appropriate to the age of the child.

An allergy is the body’s reaction to a specific substance, or allergen. Our immune system responds to the invading allergen by releasing histamine and other chemicals that typically trigger symptoms in the nose, lungs, throat, sinuses, ears, eyes, skin, or stomach lining.

In some children, allergies can also trigger symptoms of asthma — a disease that causes wheezing or difficulty breathing. And allergies could make the asthma worse, the regulator says, advising precautionary measures like staying indoors during pollen-heavy times of the day.

Source: USFDA

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