Answer to Case 656

 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 656: mite, probable contaminant from the environment. Not likely of human medical significance.As several readers noted, this mite is not one of the 2 human pathogenic mites,Sarcoptes scabeiorDemodex. Instead, it is likely a mite from the environment, such asDermatophagoides, the dust mite. The presence of many squamous epithelial cells in the background would support this idea:You can read the following posts for more information for how to differentiate the various mites found in human specimens:Case of the Week 634: Free-living mite found in stoolCase of the Week 196: DifferentiatingSarcoptes scabeifrom other mitesCase of the Week 601: Key identifying features ofSarcoptes scabei
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs