If your child suffers from year-round allergies symptoms inside your home, you can assume that something inside the house is causing the reaction. While you may think dust, pet dander, and mold at first, there are many other things that could cause allergic reactions year-round, like rodents. Here are three things parents need to know about rodent allergies.

What are the signs of rodent allergies?

If your child is allergic to rodents, they may suffer from general allergy symptoms like a runny or itchy nose. They may also have watery or red eyes. Rodent allergies can also lead to sore or scratchy throats, which allows the allergies to be mistaken for illnesses like colds. Rodent allergies can also lead to skin symptoms like red skin, itchy skin or even eczema. If your child shows some or all of these symptoms, take them to their primary care doctor.

How can your home have rodents?

While you may not have seen any mice or rats sneaking around your home, they may be present. A whopping 29% of Americans have had mice or rats in their homes. These pests can squeeze through tiny openings—as small as a dime—and, once they're inside, they build nests in sheltered areas of your home. While they stay out of sight, they produce a lot of allergen-rich urine and feces. In fact, a single rodent makes about 25,000 fecal pellets per year, so its easy to see how your home could quickly become overrun with rodent allergens.

How are rodent allergies treated?

Rodent allergies can be treated with allergy medications like antihistamines. These medications don't cure your child's allergy, but they help to control the symptoms and make your child feel more comfortable.

However, it's also important to get rid of the rodents and remove their allergens from your home. Since rodents use your whole house as their toilet, cleaning up after they're gone can be difficult. You need to clean every exposed surface in your home, and allergens will also be present in places that are hard for you to access—but easy for rodents to get to—like wall voids and vents. It's a good idea to do this cleaning while your child isn't home so that they aren't bothered by the allergens that will be stirred up during the cleaning process.

If your child is having allergic reactions to something in your house, take them to a doctor and check out http://www.MLPrimaryCare.com. You may discover that they're reacting to previously-undetected rodents in your home.