Prevalence of Demodex spp. in eyelashes of a university's population in Santiago, Chile. / Prevalencia de Demodex spp. en pestañas de una población universitaria en Santiago, Chile.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence of Demodex spp. in the eyelashes' pilosebaceous unit in volunteers of one campus of a private university. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The volunteers underwent anamnesis, biomicroscopic study and samples were taken of 8 eyelashes, 2 of each eyelid of both eyes. The eyelashes were mounted on a slide and observed under a light microscope to determine the presence and quantity of mites. RESULTS: 200 volunteers were recruited, determining the prevalence of Demodex spp. in 54 (27%) of them. Of the positive cases, 40 (74.1%) presented signs and/or symptoms of blepharitis, 43 (79.7%) presented the mite in one eye and an average infestation rate of 0.65 Demodex spp. per eyelash was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one in four of the volunteers studied without a diagnosis of blepharitis was a carrier of the parasite, of which a significant percentage presented some type of sign and/or symptom of this pathology which was related to a higher rate of infestation (p<0.05).