House-dust mites in our homes are a contamination from outdoor sources.
Avoidance advices for house-dust mite sensitized persons are currently based upon the idea, that the mites (Dermatophagoides spp.) are part of the indoor fauna. A closer look at development stages in the house-dust samples shows, however, that only the mites' active stages are present there and that the stages between them, the inactive moulting stages, are absent. Therefore the mites probably do not carry out their life cycles in our dwellings, but are more likely contaminations from the open. Findings of low level concentrations can be explained by mites coming from outdoors and sedimented in accordance with known physical laws. The occasional finding of higher concentrations is the result of synchronized populations of the mites developing outdoors and being passively transported into our homes by wind and dust. The hypothesis explains why we find mites in our homes but nonetheless have no effect of avoidance measures. The verification of the entire hypothesis or part of it may have great impact on the management of the disease house-dust mite allergy.
Hallas
Thorkil E
TE
Allergy Clinic, Copenhagen University Hospital, Dept. 7551, Copenhagen, Denmark. thallas@hotmail.com
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006798:Housing; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000254:growth & development*