House Dust Mite is a common aero-allergy. HDMA may present with eczema, asthma and even hayfever. Symptoms are usually of a perennial nature.

 

The most important house dust mites are Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and in drier areas D. farinae. In subtropical and tropical regions the glycyphagid mite Blomia tropicalis is a major source of allergen, which co-exists with D. pteronyssinus. The group 1 and 2 allergens of Dermatophagoides mites are the dominant allergens. About 20% of patients, however, do not have IgE antibody to the group 1 and 2 allergens, and even though this is a minority, it constitutes a large population. B. tropicalis is, because of its distribution in highly populated regions with increasing affluence, a very important allergen. It has low-grade cross-reactivity with Dermatophagoides but most allergens only have 30-40% sequence identity between the different families so they require different allergens for immunotherapy.  Dr Du Toit makes use of component resolved diagnosis, a newly developed procedure that uses allergen arrays to provide a diagnostic format, to differentiate between cross-reacting allergens and to identify which patients are ideal for mite immunotherapy. 

 

Reduction and treatment of House Dust Mite Allergy: