Dust mites on mobile phones – don’t panic, is the message being reiterated by many health experts.
The dust mite is everywhere in tropical countries and causes no harm. It is on pillows, bed-sheets and all over and feeds on dead skin shed by animals and humans, the Sunday Times learns.
However, some people may be allergic to the faeces of dust mites which could result in asthma or other allergies, sources said.
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| A dust mite seen under a microscope |
The focus turned to the dust mite after a person walked into the laboratory of the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and showed dust particles that were moving on his mobile phone, an MRI source told the Sunday Times.
There were 18.9 million mobile phone users in the country by the end of March, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, with 91 in 100 people using mobiles.
The MRI source explained that when they magnified the moving particles, on the mobile brought to the MRI, under the microscope, they realized it was a dust mite.
We have not carried out more studies on the mite found on the phone but believe that it is similar to the dust mite, he added.
The Director of the MRI was unavailable for comment as he was abroad.
Stressing that the dust mite is not a parasite, a retired technical officer of the Colombo Medical Faculty said that mites including dust mites are small arthropods similar to spiders, prawns and crabs. There are different species of mites and most cannot be seen by the naked eye and need to be put under a microscope while some are only “just visible”.
The eight-legged dust mite is dubbed a ‘cosmopolitan guest’ in human habitation, he said, explaining that it feeds on organic matter such as flakes of skin shed by animals including humans and flourishes in the stable environments of homes.
However, the faecal matter of the dust mite which is covered with a digestive enzyme causes asthma including wheezing and other allergic symptoms in some people, the technical officer said, a view expressed by many others. Contrasting the dust mite with a parasitic mite, he picked on Sarcoptes scabiei which causes scabies.
“This scabies-causing mite can infest the skin of a variety of animals including humans. The infestation occurs in tender skin such as between the fingers, the bend of the elbow and the knee, the male reproductive organ, the breasts and also the shoulder blades,” he said, explaining that the fertilized females then burrow into the skin to lay eggs.
Infestation by this scabies-causing mite results in intense itching, according to him.
Allaying fears among the public, he added that mobile phone users should not worry about the dust mite. |
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