Respiratory allergies in Venezuela: are fungi responsible?

Authors: Galante, David¹; Hartung de Capriles, Claudia²; Mata-Essayag, Sofía²; Conesa, Angela¹; Córdova, Yuraima³; Trejo, Ernesto⁴; Tassinari, Paolo¹

Source: Mycoses, Volume 49, Number 6, November 2006 , pp. 493-498(6)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Summary

Exposure to fungi in the indoor environment may trigger hypersensitivity to a variety of fungi and is known to be an influencing factor in allergic rhinitis and asthma. A wide list of airborne fungal spores and dust containing fungi have been described for different environments; however, their clinical relevance is seldom clear. In this survey we measure levels of fungi indoor and outdoor of domestic dwellings of 10 patients with known chronic allergic respiratory disease to fungi. To measure hypersensitivity to fungi, Prick (sensitivity to fungi), RAST (specific serum IgE levels) and PAR (persistent allergic rhinitis) severity are assessed in relation to fungal load in the environment. Only association of PAR and indoor fungal load were found to be significant (P = 0.1648). No direct causality with sensitivity to the amount of exposure, or a hypersensitivity to a specific fungal genus could be established. There is still no consensus on the most relevant methods for measuring personal exposure and `no safe levels' have been established yet.

Keywords: respiratory allergies; fungi; Venezuela

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0507.2006.01273.x

Affiliations: 1: Instituto de Inmunología 2: Servicio de Micología Médica, Instituto de Medicina Tropical 3: Departamento de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería 4: Instituto de Medicina Experimental, Cátedra de Fisiopatología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

Publication date: 2006-11-01