"A Mite Dusty"

As told to Edward L. Kenney

   My name is Dusty, and there's something I'd like to get off my chest...if I had one.

   I'm a dust mite, and I don't have what you'd call a chest.  But I do have a big confession.  Some people are allergic to me.  And when spring comes and they think that pollen and other outdoor stuff is making them sneeze and wheeze, it's really me.

   Early spring is a good time for me and my buddies, especially in humid Delaware.  The house has been closed up tight all winter, turning it into a nice mite incubator.

   Normally, this would be a happy time of year for me.  But what gets us dust dudes all shook up is when people swing into that spring housecleaning thing.

   Not that me and my pals have much to worry about.  Scientists have counted nearly 19,000 of us in a single gram of dust, about the weight of a paper clip.  Female dust mites lay 25 to 50 eggs every three weeks.  You could never get rid of all of us, no matter how well you clean.

   But don't despair.  Doctors say you don't have to kill us all.  If folks would just focus on certain areas in the home, they could breathe a lot easier.  More about that later.  Let me first tell you a little about myself.

   I'm too small for your eye to catch.  But under a microscope and on a penny, I'm about the size of an undilated pupil on Abe Lincoln's eye.

   My relatives are spiders and ticks.  But I don't bite or cause diseases, so don't try to pin any of that on me.  I'm pretty colorless, because I shun the light.  Bad eyes, so I have to rely on touch and chemicals to get around.  Eight legs and feet with sticking pads that make it hard to vacuum me out of a rug.  And oh, yeah, I love to eat human flesh - the dead kind.

   You might not know this, but a large part of house dust is skin scales.  The average person - that's you - sheds about 12 grams of them a day - that comes out to about 9 1/2 pounds a year.  Throw in a family pet and there's enough to feast on for months.

   Which makes for a lot of dust mite doo-doo - up to 20 waste particles a day per mite.  This might sound disgusting, but each pellet has a slimy covering, which is where the allergy thing comes in.  Some people are allergic to this high-protein slime.

   I don't know how many people are affected, but I can tell you this:  About one out of four of you suffer from some sort of allergy, and of those, many test sensitive to me and my dust-dwelling pals.  I understand that 80 percent of the asthma sufferers in one study showed an allergic reaction to dust mites.

   What makes matters worse for people in houses is that our fecal pellets are so light and tiny.  Walk on the carpet or stir the bedding and they float up into the air, to be breathed in.  I'm told that winter's indoor heat dries people's nasal passages, where our stuff would normally get filtered out.  So people start breathing more through their mouths, which have no filter.

   You'll find us everywhere.  But me and the boys like to hunker down in carpets, beds, sofa cushions and other soft materials.  You won't find nearly as many of us in wipe-able, washable places.  We also like it where it's warm and humid.

   Now that you know where we are, here's how to keep us out of your hair.  (Well, not literally.)  Don't ask me why I'm going to tell you, but they say confession is good for you.

   Pay real good attention to the bed.  This is where people spend a third of their lives.  The bed is a good place for mites to find lots of food, and many of us like to forage in mattresses.  To protect yourself, buy mite-proof covers for the mattress and pillows.  And by the way, just because a pillow is labeled "hypo-allergenic" doesn't mean it will keep me away.  That just means the stuffing inside the pillow is less likely to cause an allergic reaction.

   Since high heat kills us, wash the linens and washable pillows every week or two in hot water.  Running an electric blanket also helps.

   Personally, I prefer grazing on the sofa.  But doctors say that if people protect themselves in just one area - the bed - they can improve their allergies a lot.

   Next, get rid of the carpeting if possible.  If you can't do that, vacuum it and clean the rest of the house regularly.  Use a dustless vacuum cleaner, if possible, and a damp or oiled cloth for dusting.  And if you're the one with the allergy, let someone else do the housecleaning.  Or wear a dust mask.

   While I'm spilling my guts, here are some more tips:

   There, now I feel much better.  If you'll excuse me, I've got to go grab a bite to eat.

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