> Just wanted to give my two cents on the statement above, dust mites don't
> "usually" cause an asthmatic reaction.
...
> If dust mites were more prone
> to cause asthmatic responses, there would be hundreds of thousands more
people
> with asthma -- not to say that there aren't a lot of people whom already
have
> asthma.

Sorry to disagree, but I have to here.

Dust mites are a profound asthma trigger for those who have the propensity.

Not everybody has the propensity for having symptoms - upper or lower airway -
when exposed to dust.

Allergies can manifest themselves in many ways: in upper respiratory symptoms
(nasal, sinus), lower airway symptoms ("asthmatic"), or both. And it's even
possible (likely) for a person with one to also eventually develop the other.

While this is really a topic for another list (and we should therefore get
back to the dairy discussions), one thing must be said to the parents of the
child who reacted:

The reaction with the carpet is an important signal. That child needs to be
tested and followed by an allergist. The next reaction could be worse. Allergy
to milk is only one in what could be a cluster of allergies, and it's import
to find out what his (growing) set of triggers is. With young, highly atopic
children, it takes time for their full set of sensitivities to become
apparent. As a parent, you must understand what his triggers are, how severe
(or not) each one is, how to avoid the profound triggers, and how to both
respond to and prevent reactions.

It's a tough road to go down, but parenting full of them. If you're unlucky
enough to have a highly atopic child, you have your work (and your worry) cu
out for you. As my most allergic child (one of the most allergic on the
planet) grows up and thrives (he's now 16), we're seeing that everything we
did to help him live a relatively normal and symptom-free life so far has
helped him develop into a wonderful young man.

I hope the same is the case with your child.

Mark