K. Senkpiel et al., INVESTIGATION OF FUNGAL CONTAMINATION OF INDOOR AIR IN HOMES OF SELECTED PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA BRONCHIALE, Zentralblatt fur Hygiene und Umweltmedizin, 198(3), 1996, pp. 191-203
Investigations of indoor air of the homes of seven patients with asthm
a bronchiale who showed up with positive reactions following intracuta
neous application of fungal allergenes revealed that their places of r
esidence were contaminated by fungal and bacterial spores. The number
of colony forming units of mesophilic fungal spores of the indoor air
ranged from 100 to 1000 CFU/m(3) and this was much higher than the mou
ld flora of the outdoor air determined simultaneously. The major fungi
species found by the indoor investigation were: Penicillium sp. > Asp
ergillus sp. > Cladosporium sp., Mucor sp., Chrysonilia sp., Verticill
ium sp. > Geotrichum sp., Trichoderma sp. In two cases Thermoactinomyc
es species could be detected in the indoor air. The main cause of fung
al contamination were moisted building materials on roam walls, insuff
icient air ventilation, bad maintenance of the circulating air-machine
s and insufficient room hygiene (e.g. biological garbage in the kitche
n).