Building-Related Illness in Occupants of Mold-Contaminated Houses

June 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Toxic Mold Exposure- Case Study Investigation...James Craner, M.D., M.P.H. Consultant in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Verdi, Nevada, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational Medicine, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine,

The clinical presentation and course of individuals and families who developed illnesses related to non-infectious fungal exposures inside their homes is described. Occupants developed their illnesses shortly after their homes had been water damaged.

A few occupants had a specific building-related illness, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis or asthma exacerbation, but most had a "sick building syndrome" symptom complex involving irritation/inflammation of the mucous membranes, respiratory tract, and skin; fatigue; and/or neurocognitive dysfunction.

All cases required months or years to correctly diagnose. Air, surface, and/or bulk microbiological sampling in most of the homes yielded high concentrations of toxigenic fungi, including Stachybotrys chartarum and Penicillium and Aspergillus species, emanating from water-damaged building materials.

Most of the ill individuals had complete clinical improvement shortly after their removal from the contaminated indoor environment, but a few individuals continued to experience symptoms in response to a variety of environmental irritants. The author proposes a new clinical syndrome entity to describe the non-infectious, mold-related, building-related illness.

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