This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

House dust mite

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus is an important organism, not because it is a direct pathogen but because of the allergenicity of its faeces.

  • hypersensitivity of individuals to the faeces can cause asthma
  • the mites live off human skin scales
  • found in bedding, furniture, carpets and soft toys
  • thrive best in warm, damp conditions (1)

The following measures could be carried out to control the house-dust mites:

  • regular vacuuming
  • use of materials which are impermeable to mites for covers of mattresses and soft furnishings
  • use of hard flooring rather than carpets
  • keeping away soft toys from the bedroom
  • acaricides applied regularly to soft furnishings
  • wash bedding at high temperatures
  • damp dusting
  • dehumidification

Note:

  • although these measures will reduce the number of dust mites, it is not sufficient to have an effect in the control of asthma. Hence these cannot be recommended as a useful, cost-effective strategy based on current evidence (1).

Reference:


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.