Prevalence of demodicosis among youth in Northern Iran

Demodex spp. is common ectoparasites of human and animals. At present, although there is no agreement on demodicosis pathogenicity, some researchers have been tring to establish the role of Demodex in human and animal diseases. Human demodicosis usually remains asymptomatic, but occasionally it may cause blepharitis and skin diseases such as rosacea. Demodicosis usually begins in adults and rises to peak levels during old age. The peak of secretion of sebaceous glands is in the 20-30 years age group. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of demodicidosis among youth group (20-30 years old) in North of Iran in 2012. The sample size was 65 (46 females and 19 males) .Sebum was expressed from the nasolabial folds, and examined under phase contrasted microscopy. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 14. The overall prevalence of demodicosis in this study was 20%, of which 13.8% was females (9) and 6.1% belonged to males (4). There was no statistically significant correlation between the prevalence of demodicosis in males and females among examined people (P>0.05). Since, the demodicosis prevalence among healthy individuals without any complaint was found to be 20%, we believe that, Demodex spp. infestation should be considered as a serious health problem.