Acariasis

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with ascariasis, an intestinal parasitic worm infection.
Acariasis
Infectious disease

Acariasis is an

mites.[1]

Terminology

There are several complications with the terminology:

Acariasis is a term for a

urticaria) and severe itching sensations. An example of such an infection is scabies or gamasoidosis.[citation needed
]

The closely related term,

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

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

vector for parasitic diseases. The language used to describe mite infestation often does not distinguish among these.[citation needed
]

Classification

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

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

  1. ^ "Acariasis" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  2. PMID 12679953
    .
  3. ^ Mite+infestations at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  4. S2CID 19319704
    .
  5. ^ "Research and Reference Articles"
  6. PMID 17120963
    .
  7. S2CID 19663480
    .

External links

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