Asthma and Dust Mites

Linda: One of the first things we had to do was pull up the carpet.

Narrator: Not only did Linda Vine rip out all the carpeting, but you won't find any drapes, no upholstered furniture, nothing made of cloth. Nada.

Linda: No drapes, nothing cloth so that the dust won't settle to it and if it does we can easily wipe it off.

Narrator: It's not that she's just a clean freak- she is, because she has to be. This is an asthma kit. Her younger son Alex has it and has it bad. Any dust, any place in the house can set off an attack because of dust mites.
Look closely at this Lincoln penny. It's been magnified so that you can see what's on it. Those are dust mites and they are on virtually everything in your home. Kathleen Sullivan of the Lung Association is holding an enlarged picture of one. Why is the Lung Association concerned?

Kathleen of Lung Association: What we're seeing is that the more young children are exposed to these triggers, the more likely they are to go on to develop asthma if they have inherited that susceptibility.

Narrator: Asthma is part genetic and part environment. It's why Linda Vine goes to such great lengths to protect her children: like mattress covers made out of plastic. One of the simplest things you can do to control dust mites is first wash the bedding obviously, but for extra good measure, hang it out in the sun. The heat tends to destroy the mites. You can also get dustproof covers for your pillows.

Linda: Initially, it's a pretty hard thing to do because you have to rethink your house.

Narrator: But for children prone to asthma, there just isn't an alternative.

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