Demodex Mites in Relation to the Degree of Acne vulgaris among Egyptian Patients

Background and Objective: Demodex mites are considered to play a pathogenic role in facial dermatoses as Acne vulgaris. In this study the association between Acne vulgaris and Demodex spp. intensity, kind and activity were investigated. Materials and Methods: Two degrees of acne was included, mild acne (30 cases) and moderate to severe acne (30 cases), besides 30 healthy subjects as a control. Deep skin scraping followed by direct microscopic detection was applied to diagnose demodicosis. Results: All the detected mites in moderate to severe acne were D. folliculorum which was observed in a highly dynamic status with their entire life cycle stages with intensity >5 mites per cm2. While very few inactive D. brevis mites were detected in the 2 subjects related to the control group. Despite that females comprised the majority of acne cases, males encompassed a statistically higher number than females among positive demodicosis cases. Itching and hair loss were the significant clinical signs within positive cases. Regarding risk factors, oily skins, repeated exposure to the sun, stressful lifestyle plus defective use of facial cleansers were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: These results attained an association between moderate to severe acne and energetic D. folliculorum entire population. Thus, this study recommended lifestyle’s modification for those cases suffering from Acne vulgaris with deep facial cleaning to avoid such infestation that worsens acne condition. Accordingly, once acne treatments are ineffective, consideration of Demodex mites with the needed acaricidal therapy is necessary.