1) Many people are  allergic to dust mites that are living in the
carpeting. Although dust mites usually give an asthmatic reaction,
other reactions are possible. I remember reading somewhere a
connection between soy allergies and dust mite allergies. I'll try to
look that up.

Were there any pets in that house? Pet dander concentrates in
carpeting, too. And possibly it was some mold in the carpeting that
cased the reaction.

2) Was any carpet freshener/ powder used the carpet? I saw listed
that 'carpet fresh' carpet cleaner ingredients are eye irritants.

Some Scientific journal articles on links between food and dust mite allergies:
  TI: Do levels of immunoglobulin G antibodies to foods predict the
development of immunoglobulin E antibodies to cat, dog and/or mite?
AU: Eysink-P-E-D {a}; Bindels-P-J-E; Stapel-S-O; Bottema-B-J-A-M;
van-der-Zee-J-S; Aalberse-R-C
AD: {a} Department of General Practice, Academic Medical Center,
University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 15, J367, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam;
E-Mail: [log in to unmask], Netherlands
SO: Clinical-and-Experimental-Allergy. [print] April, 2002; 32 (4): 556-562..
PY: 2002
DT: Article-
IS: 0954-7894
LA: English
AB: Background: In children at high risk of inhalation allergy, food
sensitization is associated with an increased risk for sensitization
to inhalant allergens. Furthermore, this association was also found
in a cross-sectional study. Objective: To examine in a prospective
study, whether levels of IgG to foods (i.e. mixture of wheat and
rice, mixture of soy bean and peanut, egg white, cow's milk, meat,
orange and potato) indicate an increased risk for the future
development of IgE antibodies to inhalant allergens in a low-risk
population and whether they can be used as predictors of the
subsequent development of IgE antibodies in young, initially
IgE-negative children. Methods: Coughing children, aged 1-5, visiting
their GPs, were tested for IgE antibodies to mite, dog and cat (RAST)
and IgG (ELISA) to foods. All IgE-negative children were retested for
IgE antibodies after two years. The IgG results (66 percentiles) of
the first blood sample were compared to the RAST-scores of the second
blood sample. Results: After two years, 51 out of 397 (12.8%)
originally IgE-negative children, had become IgE-positive for cat,
dog and/or mite. An increased IgG antibody level to wheat-rice
(OR=2.2) and to orange (OR=2.0) indicated an increased risk of
developing IgE to cat, dog or mite allergens. In addition to IgG to a
mixture of wheat-rice and orange; total IgE, breastfeeding, eczema as
a baby and age were the most important predictors for the subsequent
development of IgE to inhalant allergens. Discussion: An increased
IgG antibody level to a mixture of wheat-rice or orange, indicates an
increased risk of developing IgE to cat, dog or mite allergens. This
indicates that excessive activity of the mucosal immune system is
present before IgE antibodies to airborne allergens can be
demonstrated. Nevertheless, IgG to foods is not very helpful (with a
positive predictive value of 16.5%, and negative predictive value of
90.6%) in identifying individual children at risk in clinical
practice. However, besides other risk factors, IgG to wheat-rice and
to orange could be useful as a screening test for studies in the
early identification, i.e. before IgE antibodies can be detected, of
children with an increased risk of developing IgE antibodies in the
future.
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TI: Prevalence of immunoglobulin E for fungi in atopic children.
AU: Nolles-G; Hoekstra-M-O; Schouten-J-P; Gerritsen-J; Kauffman-H-F {a}
AD: {a} Department of Allergology, Clinic for Internal Medicine,
University Hospital Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen:
[log in to unmask] nL, Netherlands
SO: Clinical-and-Experimental-Allergy. [print] October, 2001; 31
(10): 1564-1570..
PY: 2001
DT: Article-
IS: 0954-7894
LA: English
LS: English
AB: Background The prevalence of sensitization to fungi in young
atopic patients in relation to age and clinical importance is largely
unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the
prevalence of sensitization to different fungi in atopic children in
relation to age and other aeroallergens. Methods A total of 137
atopic children (male 62%, female 38%; mean age 5 years and 9 months,
range 5 months - 14 years) were studied. Sera of all patients were
routinely tested for total IgE and specific IgE against aeroallergens
and milk. Positive sera were also tested for IgE against Alternaria
alternata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum and
Penicillium chrysogenum, using the Pharmacia Enzyme CAP procedure.
Results In this study in atopic children total IgE showed a
significant linear relation with age, whereas specific IgE against
outdoor fungi, indoor fungi and house dust mite showed significant
non-linearity with age. Prevalence of specific IgE for Cladosporium
ranked first, followed closely by Aspergillus and Alternaria.
Calculation of the sensitization of indoor and outdoor fungi showed
maximum prevalence at 7.8 years, followed by lower values at higher
ages. A similar significant relation was also found for Alternaria,
while this relation was not significant for the other individual
fungi. Specific IgE for indoor and outdoor fungi was associated with
the presence of specific IgE for aeroallergen and milk. We found that
all children aged 4 years and older showed IgE for house dust mite
that did not decline with increasing age. Conclusions Sensitization
to fungi is prevalent in childhood, with an age-dependent
distribution reaching maximum values at 7.7-7.8 years, followed by a
decline for all fungal sensitization with increasing age. The
importance and relative contribution of fungal sensitization to
airway disease, compared with the other allergens, remains to be
established.