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Australian Dust Mite Key Facts

Australian Dust Mite Key Facts

  • The house dust mite (HDM) is a small eight-legged creature about 0.33mm long. 

  •  Dust Mites are not insects, they are arachnids, and their cousins include spiders, crabs shrimp and lobster. 

  •  At least 15% of the human population and approximately 80% of allergy sufferers are allergic to proteins and enzymes that are found in the waste and decomposed body parts of these arachnids. This is what we all try and stop getting in our respiratory system. 

  •  The female mite lays about 50 eggs in her six-week lifespan. 

  •  Studies indicate an approximated 10,000 HDM in the average bed > one year old. 

  •  Your bed is the perfect environment for these creatures; they love to burrow into fabric and feast on your dead skin cells. 

  •  Allergens left behind by HMD is the number one cause of perennial allergic rhinitis. 

  •  Dust-mite allergies are identified by skin prick tests or RAST tests on blood samples. 

  •  HDM populations are their worst during the hot, humid months. 

  •  The male house-dust-mite life span is 10-19 day. 

  • Females live for up to 70days.Dust mite populations increase rapidly. 

  • Each female can increase the population by 30 new mites per week. 

  •  We shed approximately 3kg of skin every year, which is what they eat! 

  •  Dust mites produce about 1000 allergen waste particles per lifespan.Long term exposure can cause asthma. 

  •  HDM cant drink or urinate. Since they must have water, they absorb it from a moist environment using the glands on their front legs. 

  •  People with dust mite allergies can have severe allergic reactions from eating grain flours where mites have managed to set up shop. 

  •  Sleeping in bunk beds, especially on the lower bunk, is not recommended for children with allergies. The child in the top bunk can send allergens downwards.