Pillow covers are working for them

We read your article [“Dust Mite Hype,” April 21] with zeal because my daughter and I both have rather strong allergies to dust mites.

The publication measured patient outcomes using a hard endpoint: asthma attacks. This may be a good metric from a scientific standpoint. There are other endpoints, however, that are important to patients’ quality of life, such as sleeping through the night without coughing. I can tell you from experience that thorough vacuuming and use of high-quality dust mite pillow covers makes a tremendous quality-of-life difference in our family’s lives.

These cost-effective activities may not decrease serious asthma events, but we would conclude that they affect lower-level asthma and allergy problems. Since damage from chronic inflammation of the lung appears to be cumulative, any interventions to decrease it should be encouraged.

Marker Wiegand

Pacific Palisades