Acariasis is an infestation with mites.[1]

Acariasis
SpecialtyInfectious disease

Terminology

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There are several complications with the terminology:

Acariasis is a term for a rash, caused by mites, sometimes with a papillae (pruritic dermatitis) or papule (papular urticaria), and usually accompanied by a hive (urticaria) and severe itching sensations. An example of such an infection is scabies or gamasoidosis.[citation needed]

The closely related term, mange, is commonly used with domestic animals and also livestock and wild mammals, whenever hair-loss is involved. Sarcoptes and Demodex species are involved in mange, but both of these genera are also involved in human skin diseases (by convention only, not called mange). Sarcoptes in humans is especially severe symptomatically, and causes the condition scabies noted above.[citation needed]

Another genus of mite which causing itching but rarely causes hair loss because it burrows only at the keratin level, is Cheyletiella. Various species of this genus of mite also affect a wide variety of mammals, including humans.[citation needed]

Mite infestation sometimes implies an ectoparasitic, cutaneous condition such as dermatitis. However, it is possible for mites to invade the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts.[2]

MeSH uses the term "Mite Infestations" as pertaining to Acariformes.[3] However, mites not in this grouping can be associated with human disease. (See "Classification", below.)

The term Acari refers to ticks and mites together, which can cause ambiguity. (Mites are a paraphyletic grouping).[citation needed]

Mites can be associated with disease in at least three different ways: (1) cutaneous dermatitis, (2) production of allergin, and (3) as a vector for parasitic diseases. The language used to describe mite infestation often does not distinguish among these.[citation needed]

Classification

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Most of the mites which cause this condition to humans are from the order Acari, hence the name Acariasis. The entire taxonomic classification to order would be:[citation needed]

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Chelicerata
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Acari (At the order level, there is still substantial argument among researchers as to how to categorize Acari. Some call it a subclass, others a superorder, "Acarina".)

Specific species involved include:[citation needed]

Some of these reflect reports existing of human infestation by mites previously believed not to prey on humans.[5][unreliable source?]

Diagnosis

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Medical doctors and dermatologists can still misdiagnose this rash as many are unfamiliar with parasitism, not trained in it, or if they do consider it, cannot see the mites.[citation needed]

Different methods for detection are recognized for different acariasis infections. Human acariasis with mites can occur in the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, urinary tracts and other organs which not have been well-studied. For intestinal acariasis, symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and hematochezia have been reported. Diagnosis of intestinal acariasis is confirmed by the detection of mites in stools, which must be microscopically examined to confirm the specific species of mite causing the infestation. [6] For pulmonary acariasis, the presence of mites in sputum is determined by identifying the presence and number of mites in the sputum of patients with respiratory symptoms. Both physical and chemical methods for liquefaction of sputum have been developed.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Acariasis" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  2. ^ Li, CP; Cui, YB; Wang, J; Yang, QG; Tian, Y (2003). "Acaroid mite, intestinal and urinary acariasis". World Journal of Gastroenterology. 9 (4): 874–77. doi:10.3748/wjg.v9.i4.874. PMC 4611470. PMID 12679953.
  3. ^ Mite+infestations at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  4. ^ Lesna, Izabela; Wolfs, Peter; Faraji, Farid; Roy, Lise; Komdeur, Jan; Sabelis, Maurice W. (2009). "Candidate predators for biological control of the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 48 (1–2): 63–80. doi:10.1007/s10493-009-9239-1. PMID 19184469. S2CID 19319704.
  5. ^ "Research and Reference Articles"
  6. ^ Cui, YB; Ling, YZ; Zhou, Y; Feng, ZW; Xing, YR; Zhang, SW (2006). "An effective indirect fluorescent antibody test for diagnosis of intestinal acariasis". The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. 37 (3): 452–55. PMID 17120963.
  7. ^ Martínez-Girón, Rafael; Woerden, Hugo Cornelis; Ribas-Barceló, Andrés (2007). "Experimental method for isolating and identifying dust mites from sputum in pulmonary acariasis". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 42 (1): 55–59. doi:10.1007/s10493-007-9076-z. PMID 17549588. S2CID 19663480.
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