Fungal Air Quality in Medical Protected Environments

Comparison of Indoor and Outdoor Bioaerosols in Poultry Farming

“…The abundance of the other fungi varies with the season and place. In relation to outdoor environments, indoor atmospheres typically display lower diversity (Araujo & Cabral, 2010). Long-term or repeated exposure to high concentrations of airborne fungal spores is recognised as contributing to the decline in lung function and allergic diseases such as asthma and allergic alveolitis known as farmer's lung disease (Crook et al, 2008).…”

House dust fungal communities’ characterization: a double take on the six by sixty by six (6 × 60 × 6) project

“…are found both in outdoor and indoor environments, where they are considered common fungi species [18]. Nevertheless, these genera also comprise species that are important allergic agents with implications in human respiratory health [5,8]. In a previous study conducted by our team in two Portuguese cities (Aveiro and Coimbra, n= 28), Aspergillus and Penicillium were also the most abundant genera found [11].…”

“…Their direct toxicity or capability of generating toxic compounds (e.g., mycotoxins and harmful antigens) has been associated with a large number of adverse health effects in humans, such as infectious diseases, allergies and other toxic effects [4]. Fungi produce tiny spores with those smaller than 10 µm being particularly hazardous to human health, as they can enter the respiratory tract and reach the alveoli (the gaseous exchange areas of the lung), which may lead to respiratory infections and allergic reactions [5,6].…”

Characterization of Fungal Communities in House Dust Samples Collected From Central Portugal—A Preliminary Survey

“…Fungal diversity evaluated by molecular methods is usually higher than by conventional techniques, since the former are able to quantify both viable and unviable species viability (Araújo and Cabral, 2010;Pitkäranta et al, 2008). Considering that hazards related to indoor exposure are often not related to viability (Pitkäranta et al, 2008), these methods are fundamental to characterize the fungal community present in the indoor environment.…”

“…Although most of the research on fungi in indoor environments concerns airborne fungi, some attention is also being drawn to studies with dustborne fungi (Rintala et al, 2012). This matrix acts as a longterm reservoir of biological agents and might therefore be considered as an integrated sample of previously airborne fungi (Araújo and Cabral, 2010;Rintala et al, 2012). The aim of the present work was to examine the fungal community in 28 house dust samples collected in central Portugal.…”