Mites belong to the class of the arachnids. The mites occurring in house dust belong to 90% to the so-called Dermatophagoides, the “skin eaters”.
House dust mites are invisible to the naked eye, 0.006 – 0.02” large, grey/white and almost transparent. Mainly responsible for the house dust allergy is Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus which can be found almost in the entire world, except in larger heights from approx. 5000 feet. The life span of the males is 60-80 days, the females live up to 100 days. During their life span they produce an amount of excrements that is approx. 200 times their own bodyweight. Every 3 weeks the females produce a new generation with 25-50 eggs.
The dust mite itself is basically harmless, however, the proteins in their excrements are a powerful allergen and can trigger allergic reactions in sensitized people.
If untreated initial allergic reactions can lead to chronic respiratory tract-disease.
Each gram of house dust contains approx. 1000 dust mites which each produce daily approx. 20 excrement pellets with a diameter of about 10–40 µm. These pellets dry up, decompose into fine dust, float into the air and are inhaled – mainly at night during sleep.
Beds offer the ideal environment for the development of house dust mites. They provide the best conditions with regards to warmth, moisture and nourishment.
The house dust mites require temperatures between 68-86ºF, a relative humidity of 65-80% and the presence of mold and food.
They eat the mold that grows on human skin scales. The skin scales cannot be digested by the mites - the high fat content is even toxic for them. Molds modify this organic material by reducing the fat content to approx. 4.6% among other modifications.
As their share of this symbiotic partnership the mites transport the fungus spores to a suitable germination place.
Every human loses approx. 1 gram of skin scales within 24 hours – this quantity is enough to feed approx one million mites.
First symptoms of a house dust mite allergy are:
Watering eyes, sneeze attacks, itchy skin, eczema
If untreated the following serious diseases can develop:
Bronchial asthma in the form of acute bronchial spasms with swelling of the bronchial mucous membrane due to inflammation and increased mucus production and –secretion, chronic asthma.
Scientific studies with allergic persons have shown that a reduction of allergens in the living environment will lead to a removal / reduction of allergic symptoms. It is therefore recommended that you:
