First case of intestinal acariasis from Egypt

We are hereby reporting a case where the eggs and adults of the mold mites; Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Shrank) and the trophozoites of Blastocystis sp. were found in stool of three years old child from Minia City, Egypt. Intestinal mite infection was diagnosed after repeated identification of mite’ stages from six consecutive stool samples to exclude the possibilities of contamination and spurious infection. The patient was suffering from severe colicky abdominal pain and burning sensation around the anus one month ago. All other members of his family were having the same acarine in their feces, but were all symptomless. The patient was treated with ivermectin 200 µg/kg body weight once every 10 days for three doses. His cure indicated that he was having asymptomatic blastocystosis.

When mites attack: domestic mites are not just allergens

Domestic mite species found in indoor environments and in warm or tropical regions are well known for causing allergic disorders. However, little is known about human acariasis, in which mites invade and parasitize the human body in various tissues from the gastrointestinal tract to the lung. Here, we summarize the reported cases of human acariasis of pulmonary, intestinal, oral (anaphylaxis), urinary, otic, and vaginal systems. Because the clinical symptoms of acariasis often overlap with other disease symptoms leading to frequent misdiagnosis, we highlight the need for more attention on these infections.

Diarrhea and acaroid mites: A clinical study

AIM: To explore the characteristics of diarrhea caused by acaroid mites.

METHODS: Acaroid mites in fresh stools of 241 patients with diarrhea were separated by flotation in saturated saline. Meanwhile, skin prick test, total IgE and mite-specific IgE were detected in all patients.

RESULTS: The total positive rate of mites in stool samples of the patients was 17.01% (41/241), the positive rates of mites in male and female patients were 15.86% (23/145) and 18.75% (18/96), respectively, without significant difference (P > 0.05). The percentage of skin prick test as" +++", "++", "+", and "-" was 9.13% (22/241), 7.47% (18/241), 5.81% (14/241), 4.98% (12/241) and 72.61% (175/241), respectively. The serum levels of total IgE, mite-specific IgE in patients with and without mites in stool samples were (165.72 ± 78.55) IU/ml, (132.44 ± 26.80) IU/mL and (145.22 ± 82.47) IU/ml, (67.35 ± 45.28) IU/ml, respectively, with significant difference (P < 0.01). The positive rate of mites in stool samples in staffs working in traditional Chinese medicine storehouses or rice storehouses (experimental group) was 26.74% (23/86), which was significantly higher than that (11.61%, 18/155) in people engaged in other professions (χ² = 8.97, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Acaroid mites cause diarrhea and increase serum levels of total IgE and mite-specific IgE of patients, and the prevalence of diarrhea caused by acaroid mites is associated with occupations rather than the gender of patients.

Acaroid mite, intestinal and urinary acariasis

AIM: To investigate epidemiology and pathogenic mite species of intestinal and urinary acariasis in individuals with different occupations.

METHODS: A total of 1994 individuals were tested in this study. History collection, skin prick test and pathogen identification were conducted. The mites were isolated from stool and urine samples by saturated saline flotation methods and sieving following centrifugation, respectively.

RESULTS: Among the 1994 individuals examined, responses to the skin prick test of “+++”, “++”, “+”, “±” and “-” were observed at frequencies of 3.96% (79), 3.21% (64), 2.31% (46), 1.25% (25) and 89.27% (1780), respectively. A total number of 161 (8.07%) individuals were shown to carry mites, with 92 (4.61%) positive only for stool samples, 37 (1.86%) positive only for urine samples and 32 (1.60%) for both. The positive rate of mites in stool samples was 6.22% (124/1994), being 6.84% (78/1140) for males and 5.39% (46/854) for females. No gender difference was observed in this study (χ² = 1.77, P > 0.05). The mites from stool samples included Acarus siro, TyroPhagus putrescentiae, Dermatophagoides farinae, D. pteronyssinus, Glycyphagus domesticus, G.ornatus, Carpoglyphus lactis and Tarsonemus granaries. The positive rate of mites in urine samples was 3.46% (69/1994). The positive rates for male and female subjects were found to be 3.95% (45/1140) and 2.81% (24/854) respectively, with no gender difference observed (χ² = 1.89, P > 0.05). Mites species in urine samples included Acarus siro, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, T. longior, Aleuroglyphus ovatus, Caloglyphus berlesei, C. mycophagus, Suidasia nesbitti, Lardoglyphus konoi, Glycyphagus domesticus, Carpoglyphus lactis, Lepidoglyphus destructor, Dermatophagoides farinae, D. pteronyssinus, Euroglyphus magnei, Caloglyphus hughesi, Tarsonemus granarus and T. hominis. The species of mites in stool and urine samples were consistent with those separated from working environment. A significant difference was found among the frequencies of mite infection in individuals with different occupations (χ² = 82.55, P < 0.001), with its frequencies in those working in medicinal herb storehouses, those in rice storehouse or mills, miners, railway workers, pupils and teachers being 15.89% (68/428), 12.96% (53/409), 3.28% (18/549), 2.54% (6/236), 5.10% (13/255) and 2.56% (3/117), respectively.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of human intestinal and urinary acariasis was not associated with gender, and these diseases are more frequently found in individuals working in medicinal herb, rice storehouses or mills and other sites with high density of mites. More attention should be paid to the mite prevention and labor protection for these high-risk groups.