Allergies
Allergies, a Cold — or BOTH?
HOW TO TELL THE SYMPTOMS APART
By Michael Corjulo, APRN, CPNP, AE-C T
he change in seasons is often accom- panied by sniffling, sneezing, itchy eyes
and coughing. After a winter of cold viruses, it can be difficult to tell if the symptoms your child is experiencing in spring and summer are due to allergies, a cold virus or both. One way to distinguish between aller- gies and a cold is understanding how most cold viruses start and how long they last. Although there are many types and strains of cold viruses present in most parts of the U.S., the more severe ones tend to:
* Start off with your child feeling unusually tired and developing a sore throat and a
fever (2 to 3 days).
* Then the nasal congestion, postnasal drip and cough or sneezing develop and peak (4 to 7 days).
* By 10 to 12 days most cold viruses get better.
Seasonal allergies differ from cold viruses in two important ways:
* They don’t start with a fever. * They last much longer than a cold, often for the month or two that the allergen is in
the air. 36
Understanding Seasonal Allergies Children can develop seasonal allergies at any point, although it’s uncommon before their first birthday because their bodies need to live through at least one year of seasons to develop the allergy. The seasonal allergy occurs when a tree, grass, weed pollen or outdoor mold trig- gers a reaction that releases histamine (and other body chemicals), causing swelling, itching and watery drainage or mucus — mostly in the eyes and nose. The result tends to be sneezing, rubbing the eyes and nose, sniffling, postnasal drip and sometimes coughing. This is com-
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