A Study on the Prevalence of House-dust Mites in Guangxi, P.R. China

A total of 90 samples was collected from 4 different types ui dwelling (dormitories, private houses, hotels and hospitals) in 3 different cities (Nanning, Beihai and Guilin) of Guangxi, P.R. China. The prevalence of mite recovery was 55.56%. The average number of mites per gram dust was found the highest in Guilin, which was about 2.5 times as many as in Nanning and around 7 times as many as in Beihai. Four orders and 5 families of mites were found in this survey. Most of the mites collected in Nanning and Guilin belonged to family Acaridae (order Astigmata), whereas in Beihai most of them belonged to family Tarsonemidae (order Prostigmata). The pyroglyphid mites found in this survey belonged to genus Dermatophagoides with Dermatophagoides pteronvssinus existing in 3 cities while Dermatophagoidesfarinae being found only in Guilin. The density of this genus was existing more than 100 mites per gram (the threshold level risk for atopic symptoms) in hospitals. Key words: House dust mites, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae Acaridae, mite prevalence