the association between demodex infestation and hair loss severity in a referred patient population

Background: hair follicle mites of the genus demodex (prostigmata: demodicidae) are the most common external obligate parasites in humans, which reside in the eyelids, sebaceous glands, and ear canal, and can cause clinical dis­ease. the purpose of this study was to investigate the possible role of demodex parasites in causing discomfort in pa­tients referred to tehran laboratories due to hair loss. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 520 patients referred to a laboratory in tehran, iran, presenting with hair loss. sampling was performed from the scalp and face, and samples were examined for demodex mites using light microscopy. results: the results showed that among the 520 patients referred to the laboratory, 66.15% were infected with demo­dex. out of 344 positive cases, 83.43% were women and 16.57% were men. among the affected patients aged between 7 and 70 years, most patients (59.01%) were in the age group of 25.4 to 39.2 years. a high prevalence of demodex in­festation (66.15%) was found among patients with hair loss. conclusion: our findings establish a highly significant, direct correlation between the severity of hair loss and the den­sity of demodex mite infestation (p< 0.001). we propose that high demodex mite density is a significant contributory factor in the etiology of severe hair loss.