The study of the fungal community composition in house dust is useful to assess the cumulative exposure to fungi in indoor environments. The objective of this research was to characterize the fungal diversity of house dust and its association with the environmental conditions of bedrooms. For this, the dust was collected from 41 bedrooms of children between the ages of 8 and 9 with a family history of asthma, residents of Havana, Cuba. The fungal content of each sample was determined by two methods: plate culture with Malt Extract Agar and by direct microscopy. An ecological analysis was carried out from the fungal diversity detected. To describe the factors associated with the fungi detected, bivariate logistic regression was used. Through direct microscopy, between 10-2311 fragments of hyphae and spores corresponding mainly to Cladosporium, Coprinus, Curvularia, Aspergillus/Penicillium, Xylariaceae, and Periconia were identi ed. Through the culture, 0-208 CFU were quanti ed, where Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium predominated. The culturability evidenced the differences between the quanti cation determined by both methods. A positive relationship was found between the type of cleaning of the furniture, the presence of trees in front of the bedroom, indoor relative humidity, indoor temperature, the presence of air conditioning by air conditioning and natural ventilation with speci c spore types and genders. The use of two different identi cation methods allowed to detect a greater fungal diversity in the residences evaluated. Monitoring the exposure to these fungal allergens in childhood can help to prevent sensitization in the allergic child, the development of asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Aspergillus is one of the most common fungal genera found indoors; it is important because it can cause a wide range of diseases in humans. Aspergillus species identification is based on a combination of morphological, physiological, and molecular methods. However, molecular methodologies have rarely been used for the identification of environmental isolates of Aspergillus in Cuba. Therefore, the objective of this work was to identify the species of the genus Aspergillus obtained from houses in Havana, Cuba, through the construction of phylogeny from a partial sequence of the benA gene region, and to analyze the diversity and richness of Aspergillus in the studied municipalities. Isolates of Aspergillus spp. included in this study presented the typical macro- and micromorphology described for the genus. According to this polyphasic characterization, A. niger, A. flavus, A. welwitschiae, A. heteromorphus, A. sydowii, A. tamarii, A. fumigatus, A. clavatus, and A. tubingensis were the most abundant species. Most of the identified species constitute new records for outdoor and indoor environments in Cuba and contribute to the knowledge of fungal biodiversity in the country. These results constitute an alert for the health authorities of the country, since prolonged exposure of the inhabitants to Aspergillus spores can cause severe persistent asthma, among other diseases.

RESUMEN El estudio de la aeromicobiota de los museos contribuye a la conservación de los materiales que allí se resguardan y a la prevención de enfermedades alérgicas en los visitantes. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la diversidad y calidad fúngica del aire de la Casa Museo Polo Montañez mediante una metodología volumétrica no viable. Se calculó la razón entre las concentraciones fúngicas del aire interior y exterior para evaluar su calidad. Además, se realizó un análisis ecológico de los hongos detectados. La calidad del aire interior de las salas fue buena y se comprobó la similitud entre los taxones del interior y exterior. El tipo esporal Aspergillus/Penicillium destacó por su abundancia en el aire interior y el tipo esporal Cladosporium en el exterior. De la micobiota detectada 12 géneros se informan con propiedades biodeteriorantes y nueve alergénicas. Los cuatro tipos esporales identificados pueden manifestar ambas potencialidades.

Palabras clave: hongos, aire, alergia, estaciones RESUMEN El clima de La Habana favorece la presencia de hongos en el aire durante gran parte del año, principalmente en el horario diurno. En los períodos poco lluviosos (noviembre-abril) se evidencian las mayores variaciones climatológicas que pueden incidir en la severidad de enfermedades alérgicas y respiratorias. El objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar la micobiota atmosférica diurna de La Habana durante tres períodos poco lluviosos consecutivos. Se realizaron 48 muestreos volumétricos de propágulos fúngicos viables mediante un biocolector de rendija (colector chirana) durante tres períodos poco lluviosos (noviembre/2012-abril/2013, noviembre/2013-abril/2014 y noviembre/2014-abril/2015). Los hongos recolectados se aislaron e identificaron. Simultáneamente se realizó la identificación visual de esporas en las preparaciones procedentes de un captador tipo Hirst Lanzoni VPPS 2000, en el mismo día y hora de los muestreos viables. Posteriormente se calculó la concentración, densidad y frecuencia relativa de los propágulos fúngicos identificados por ambos métodos. Los períodos evaluados fueron similares de forma cuantitativa y cualitativa. Se identificaron 32 géneros fúngicos, tres sólo mediante cultivo, 17 sólo con metodología no viable y 11 con ambos sistemas de captación. También se identificaron esporas del orden Uredinales y de la familia Xylariaceae por el método no viable. Destacaron Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium y Curvularia por su abundancia y frecuencia relativa. La micobiota detectada en los tres períodos fue similar en diversidad y concentración de géneros. La temperatura media y la humedad relativa media se correlacionaron con las concentraciones atmosféricas de propágulos fúngicos. Los datos aportados son útiles para la prevención de alergias y enfermedades respiratorias, con alta incidencia en la población cubana en períodos invernales y secos.

The London plane tree is frequently used in gardens, parks, and avenues in European urban areas for ornamental purposes with the aim to provide shade, and given its tolerance to atmospheric pollution. Nevertheless, unfortunately, over recent decades, bioaerosols such as Platanus pollen grains cause increasing human health problems such as allergies or respiratory tract infections. An aerobiological sampling of airborne Platanus pollen and Pla a 1 allergen was performed using two volumetric traps placed on the roof of the Science Faculty building of the city of Ourense from 2009 to 2020. A volumetric sampler Hirst–type Lanzoni VPPS 2000 (Lanzoni s.r.l. Bologna, Italy) was used for pollen sampling. Pla a 1 aeroallergen was sampled by using a Burkard Multi-Vial Cyclone Sampler (Burkard Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Hertfordshire, UK) and by means of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Data mining algorithms, C5.0 decision trees, and rule-based models were assessed to evaluate the effects of the main meteorological factors in the pollen or allergen concentrations. Plane trees bloom in late winter and spring months in the Northwestern Spain area. Regarding the trends of the parameters that define the Platanus pollen season, the allergen values fitted the concentrations of pollen in the air in most cases. In addition, it was observed that a decrease in maximum temperatures causes a descent in both pollen and allergen concentrations. However, the presence of precipitations only increases the level of allergens. When the risk of allergy symptomatology was jointly assessed for both the concentration of pollen and allergens in the study area, the number of days with moderate and high risk for pollen allergy in sensitive people increased with respect to traditional alerts considering only the pollen values.