Review on Ecology of House Dust Mites in Korea and Suggestion of a Standard Survey Method

Abstract

A large number of house dust mites live in homes worldwide and produce the most important allergens which cause allergic diseases to the genetically predisposed individuals perennially. Herewith, the literatures published on the survey of dust mites in Korea were reviewed. In most studies, mites were isolated and investigated from the house dust samples collected by using household vacuum cleaners. Among more than 30 species of house dust mites recorded in Korea, Dermatophagoides farinae was found to be the most predominant species in homes, followed by D. pteronyssinus. House dust mites were most frequently encountered in dust from bedding samples followed by kitchen samples, in which Tyrophagus putrescentiae, a storage mite species, was the most frequently found species. The highest mite density and allergen concentration were shown in autumn. It would be useful if the standard method for the investigation of dust mite density is established for the field survey. Measuring the number of mites per unit area (1 m2) collected in a given time (2 minutes) using a house-hold vacuum cleaners equiped with nonwovens is suggested here as an objective and convenient method for the survey on house dust mites. Mites can be detected directly from fine dust samples using a stereomicroscope or isolated by technique utilizing saturated salt water. In the future, more field surveys and laboratory studies are necessary for the investigation on the relationship between house dust mites in homes and various allergic diseases