Random Tweets about House Dust Mites: Bite-Size Facts on Allergens, Avoidance, and Health Risks

Presented here are random Tweets posted on @housedustmite. They are part of a collection of over 2,652 tweets about dust mites, how they live and die and the diseases they cause. This collection of Tweets will change periodically to promote public interest in the mite and provide information on how to control infestation indoors.

House dust mites do not bite in the usual way. The digestive enzymes in their droppings do it for them.

#HDMfacts #MiteAllergy

A healthy adult house dust mite can produce up to 20 droppings a day and considers the droppings as food.

#MiteBiology #AllergenFacts

Mite allergens can enter your body through the mucus membranes of your nose, eyes and mouth or on broken skin.

#HDM #Allergy

The major allergen found on the house dust mite's mouth and in its poop is similar to a meat tenderiser used in the food industry.

#Derp1 #Enzymes

Up to five separate pieces of 'poop' make up one house dust mite dropping. They are all held together by mucus. In the mess is living fungi.

#MitePoop #AllergenSource

The fungi found living in house dust mite droppings was identified as 'Aspergillus pernicilloides', and 'Wallemia sebi'.

#MiteFungi #Aspergillus

90% of asthmatics are known to be susceptible to allergies. Mites are a major cause of allergy.

#AsthmaFacts #AllergyStats

One completed load of washing can retain 2 litres of water. Drying washing on radiators in cold weather encourages dust mites and mould.

#HDMAvoidance #HumidityControl

Slow breathing brings particles deeper into lungs than fast breathing. Kids watching TV breathe slowly - ventilate, especially when cleaning.

#Ventilation #AirQuality

The average adult human sheds one gram of skin each day, and produces 500 mls of sweat in bed each night. Professor John Warner

#MiteFood #SkinScales

Childhood diseases caused by house dust mites are chronic rhinitis, asthma, allergic eczema, conjunctivitis and even glue ear.

#ChildHealth #Eczema

Six kinds of asthma are: allergic, exercise induced, obesity with atopy, occupational, drug related and steroid resistant. Dust mites can affect most.

#AsthmaTypes #HDMimpact

If asthma sends you to hospital make sure you know the triggers that threatened your life. Was it allergen exposure, plus a viral infection or maybe tobacco smoke, or all three?

#AsthmaTriggers #Avoidance

'Pancake Syndrome' a severe allergic reaction to baked foods made from house dust mite infested wheat or corn flour. Google it!

#PancakeSyndrome #FoodAllergy

Keep stored flour in the refrigerator or freezer to stop house dust mite infestation.

#FoodSafety #MiteControl

Hiding places for dust mites in a mattress are near the sides, near the feet, button areas and trimmings.

#MiteHabitat #Mattress

The best anti-mite covers are woven with a pore size of less than 10 microns. Below 6 microns is recommended.

#AntiMiteCovers #ProductAdvice

20 minutes in a hot dryer will kill house dust mites. Why? They are 75% water and can't control their body temperature.

#MiteKilling #AvoidanceTips

Storage mite's mouth is not strong enough to break into grain. Help comes from the mould that lives in the storage mite's poop.

#StorageMites #MitePoop

'H influenza' infection can raise an IgE response. An unexpected finding associated with protection from childhood asthma. 'Thorax', 2012,67:321

#IgE #AsthmaResearch

BBC calls the house dust mite the deadliest animal in the UK. Why? Because of its role in asthma, which kills approximately seven people a day.

#HDMfacts #AsthmaMortality

House dust mite allergens 3, 6 and 9 trigger a reaction associated with COPD. Non-smokers suffer COPD too. Lancet: (2009) Vol. 374; p733-743

#COPD #MiteAllergens

Five minutes, on high, in a good microwave oven will kill all house dust mites. Items must be washed after to eliminate allergens.

#MiteKilling #Microwave