Demodicosis is a parasite that contributes to the formation of several types of demodecosis, among which we can mention, among others. eye. This arachnid, belonging to the mite order, causes disease symptoms most often in immunocompromised and elderly people, and its diagnosis and treatment are usually a long process.

Demodicosis, which causes eye disease (demodecosis), belongs to the parasites that occur in the hair follicles of the eyebrows and eyes or the sebaceous glands of the eyelids, but also in the scalp, the sebaceous glands of the cheeks, nose, forehead, nasolabial furrow and ear canals. Its medium is our dead skin and sebum components.

Contact with the skin of an infected person, or the use of contaminated towels, cosmetics, bedding, or dust, in which these parasites are less than 0.3 mm, may cause the first disease symptoms. Most people over the age of 70 are carriers of Demodex. The disease reaction most often occurs in people with weakened immunity, including mainly seniors, but it can also affect people infected with HIV, leukemia, and those taking steroids for a long time. The symptoms are rare in children or adolescents.

The symptoms that can be seen in demodicosis include:

• redness of the eyelids and conjunctiva,
• loss of eyebrows and eyelashes,
• burning of the eyelids and around the eyes,
• itching
• watery eyes
• sometimes photophobia,
• excessive sensitivity to dust and smoke,
• often widening of the eyelid skin vessels,
• shifting the base of the eyelashes, including changing the direction of their growth,
• the appearance of a keratin-fatty deposit along the lash line,
• chronic inflammation of the eyelid margins, etc.

Of course, the symptoms may vary from one case to another – few or all of them may occur.

Eye disease caused by Demodex very often affects the dysfunction of the meibomian glands, which may be accompanied by the symptoms classic for dry eye syndrome. Improperly selected treatment or its omission may lead to the transformation of the above-mentioned changes into much more serious and more troublesome, such as serious eye contamination, drying of the cornea or the formation of chalazions.