Why are allergy symptoms in children sometimes overlooked?

Certain allergy symptoms are not obvious to parents or even to pediatricians or general practitioners. Openly rubbing the nose is a part of childhood. Frequent minor infections are a fact of life for schoolchildren. Because such symptoms are common and seemingly minor, they are often overlooked or treated in the wrong ways -- either as infections when they are allergy-related, or as allergy-related when they are not. Sometimes people think that they have suddenly become allergic as adults. This is probably not the case: Allergic symptoms begin at a very early age but they may not be recognized or treated as such.