Dust mites thrive in warm climates and high humidity levels
House dust mites are found in most homes. These eight legged creatures are only ¼ of an mm long, and hence cannot be seen with the naked eye.
They feed off human skin scales, but do not burrow into the skin (like scabies) or live in skin follicles.
Instead, they are found in parts of the house that collect high levels of skin scales, like the bedroom, (especially in the bedding and mattress), carpet, soft furnishings, and clothing.
Dust mites also eat animal dander so allergens will be plentiful in areas where the family pets sleep.
They thrive in warm climates and high humidity levels. Hence, they are unavoidable in the Australian home.
House dust mite allergy is very common. Humans react to allergens contained in their faeces.
Allergy symptoms include sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, nasal stuffiness, runny nose, stuffy ears. It is associated with asthma, eczema and hay fever.
There are measures that you can use to reduce the number of mites and their allergens in your home. However, total eradication is virtually impossible, and somewhat unnecessary.
Reducing dust mites in the home:
• Mattress, doona, pillow covers: make sure they are removable and machine washable. Recommended brands of covers are Allergend and Mite Guard. They need to completely encase the mattress or pillow, otherwise they are not effective.
• Bedding, soft toys and soft furnishings: wash at usual washing temperatures will remove ~95% allergens, but will not kill the dust mites. Thus, repeat washing every 8 weeks.
• Carpet: regular vacuuming may help reduce mite allergens in your carpet. However, remember that inefficient vacuum cleaners may also increase the amount of allergen in the air.
• Reduce soft furnishings in the home such as curtains, soft toys and sheepskin.
• Non –carpeted flooring also helps.
• Chemical sprays, air filtration, negative ion generators and “allergen-free” products: are often of little help.
A positive allergy skin test to dust mite does not necessarily mean that dust mites are the cause of your symptoms.
Only some people with a positive allergy test will have symptoms caused by the allergen. Discuss any concerns that you may have with your doctor.
There is currently very little evidence that house dust mite avoidance makes a major difference to allergic symptoms.
A trial of dust mite avoidance will usually be recommended if you or your child suffer from severe cases of asthma, eczema or hay fever. Check with your doctor before you remove your carpets or throw away your soft furnishings.
Also, if you were contemplating using dust mite avoidance measures to prevent the development of allergic disease in your non allergenic baby / child - it has not shown to be successful and is not recommended. Common sense prevails and as always, discuss it with your doctor.
