David asks:

>I remember hearing from time to time that not only are there 
>microorganisms which cause disease etc in humans, but 
>there are also some which are beneficial, and some which
>don't really have any influence but just live in/on or bodies.
>I've heard the same about small creatures like mites (or
>whatever) which may or may not be considered 
>microorganisms, but they have the same type of non-
>harmful influence on us. The searching I've done so far 
>has only brought up info about such creatures which are 
>harmful to us. Can anyone tell me about those which are 
>not harmful, and/or suggest websites where information 
>about them is available?

One genus of relatively harmless parasites in humans is the microscopic mite
Demodex. Although Demodex folliculorum causes mange in dogs, virtually every
human is also infested with them as well, particularly on the face, but they
only occasionally cause any problems. For more information, see:

    http://www.unitedstars.com/demodex/english/qa.html

....although there are a thousand other websites devoted to Demodex.

Wirt Atmar
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