The Prevalence of Demodex folliculorum in Blepharitis Patients and the Normal Population

Purpose: Demodex folliculorum (DF), which is frequently found in patients with chronic blepharitis, is a well-known common inhabitant of eyelash follicles. In the present study, the prevalence of DF in seborrheic blepharitis patients and controls was investigated. In addition, the associations betwe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ophthalmic epidemiology 2005-08, Vol.12 (4), p.287-290
Main Authors: Kemal, Mustafa, Sümer, Zeynep, Toker, Mustafa Ilker, Erdo an, Haydar, Topalkara, Ayšen, Akbulut, Makbule
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Blepharitis
Blepharitis - epidemiology
Blepharitis - parasitology
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demodex folliculorum
Eye Infections, Parasitic - epidemiology
Eye Infections, Parasitic - parasitology
eyelashes
Eyelashes - parasitology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mite Infestations - epidemiology
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Turkey
Turkey - epidemiology
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Summary:Purpose: Demodex folliculorum (DF), which is frequently found in patients with chronic blepharitis, is a well-known common inhabitant of eyelash follicles. In the present study, the prevalence of DF in seborrheic blepharitis patients and controls was investigated. In addition, the associations between the presence of DF and host factors (age, sex) were analyzed. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was done involving 500 cases. In all, 6000 cilia from 170 patients with seborrheic blepharitis and 330 patients with normal eyes were examined for DF. Twelve eyelash samples were epilated from each patient and examined under the light microscope. Results: DF was found in 28.8% (49/170) of patients with blepharitis and in 26.7% (88/330) of controls. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. The overall prevalence was 27.4% (137/500) in all patients. Although the prevalence of DF increased with increasing age, no significant difference was found between the age groups. There was also no statistically significant difference for DF prevalence between males (28.9%; 71/246) and females (24.1%; 61/254). Conclusion: Our findings show a high DF prevalence in both blepharitis and control patients and no relationship was found between the presence of DF and host factors (age, sex).
ISSN:0928-6586
1744-5086
DOI:10.1080/092865805910057