Harry Norton can barely breathe some nights if the dust is really bad. He does take medication for his "allergic rhinitis" but the drugs are starting to be less effective so the next step would be surgery to remove the parts of his nose which react badly to the allergens.
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"This is something I've been born with and grown up with my entire life. I've been told it's like breathing at 40 per cent capacity for a regular person, but for me that's a good amount and I can get by day to day but I don't know what it feels like to breathe at 100 per cent through my nose," he said.
"It can really feel like there's no air getting through at all." If his nose is completely failing, he can breathe only through his mouth but doing so was "uncomfortable" and "unpleasant".
The Australian National University student, based in Canberra, is also allergic to many foods, including dairy, egg, fish, sesame, and kiwi.
For mother, Luda Unitt, allergies mean a constant watch and a constant anxiety. Her nine-year-old son Lucas lives with asthma, hay fever, and multiple life-threatening food allergies, including to dairy, egg, sesame, tree nuts, most legumes, avocado and kiwi fruit.
When Lucas was a baby, he was struck with a severe attack so now every meal, birthday party, school excursion and family holiday requires careful planning.
"You never stop being vigilant," the mother said. "Every meal, every social event and every new situation comes with questions about whether Lucas will be safe. It's something we think about every day."
Harry and Lucas are among the roughly five million people who are estimated to be allergic to something or other in Australia. The most common allergic reactions are to foods (like nuts) or medications or insect stings.
"Symptoms can be mild, but can often escalate to severe breathing difficulties, collapse, or even death. In fact, each year, more than 2400 people are hospitalised with acute allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), and 20 Australians lose their lives," according to the National Allergy Centre of Excellence at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
But despite the number of people involved, the problems are under-recognised, according to people with allergies and the doctors trying to help them. They regret that the census didn't ask a specific question about allergies.
"The Census does not currently collect information on allergic disease. Including it in future national data collections would help governments and health services better understand its prevalence and impact, informing future policy, planning, research and investment," the chief executive of the National Allergy Council, Sandra Vale, said.
A group of politicians has been formed to raise awareness. Its chairman Mike Freelander MP said: "Allergic disease is a growing chronic condition, and we need to progress towards capturing good data on allergic disease, just as we do for other chronic conditions, through national data collections such as the Australian Census and National Health Survey."
