BACKGROUND Chronic urticaria is one of the perplexing problems faced by clinicians. There are a few reports associating house dust mite sensitivity with chronic urticaria, based upon the patient's history as well as intradermal skin testing and in vitro analysis. AIMS To investigate the possible association between house dust mite sensitivity and chronic urticaria. METHODS In this case cont...

Demodex mites colonized the hair follicles and sebaceous glands of mammals millions of years ago and have remained relatively unchanged in this protected ecologic niche since then. The host immune system detects and tolerates their presence. Toll-like receptor-2 of keratinocytes has been demonstrated to recognize mite chitin and to elicit an innate immune response. The subsequent acquired immun...

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a lethal virus of honeybees (Apis mellifera) implicated in elevated colony mortality rates worldwide and facilitated through vector transmission by the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor. Clinical, symptomatic DWV infections are almost exclusively associated with high virus titres during pupal development, usually acquired through feeding by Varroa mites when repr...