Airborne Fungi

Abstract

These investigations of the role and the significance of the airborne fungi in skin and lung patients are based on the seasons and dairy variations in fungal air content in the town Sarajevo through the period of two years and on the mycoflora from the houses in 10 communities in SR Bosnia and Hercegovina. From 16 localities in Sarajevo, there were recovered 19 genera of the fungi: Alternaria, Aspegilli, Cephalosporium, Cladosporium, Hyalopus, Fusarium, Mucor, Mycelia sterilia, Oospora, Penicillia, Penicilliastrum, Rhizopus, Scopulariopsis, Spicaria, Streptomyces, Stachybotrys, Tetraccosporium, Trichoderma and Verticillium.

There were isolated yeasts and bacteria also. As in the rule, the winter period was poorer in genuses and in the number of the colonies, but in the lower parts of the town the known a Uergonic genuses could be observed and isolated also in the winter lime, and not with few representatives. The main representants of this flora, with the smaller variations, were Alternaria and Mycor in the lower parts of the town, and Cladosporium and Fusarium in some higher locations.

The really “rain” of the spores were invading the air of Sarajevo in summer months, when the great number of the colonies of Cladosporium and Alternaria, Trichoderma and Fusarium joined to the present flora of Mycor and Aspergilli.

In the smoggy winter time, with the heaviest difficulties for respirator organs, it could not be isolated fungi at all. But an enormous mass of the diphtheroid bacteria. As the concentration of S02 on these smoggy days was the heaviest, it seems that the fungicidal activity of this Chemical compound could be responsible for respiratory troubles in the people, and not the fungi.

The mycoflora from the houses in 10 communities in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina was neither different in individual representatives from one community to the other, nor from this one in Sarajevo. From the with the mold covered walls in the houses it could be recovered Mycor and Rhizopus, but as a constant finding there was isolated a dematious fungus, Hormiscium. There was not found any difference in fungal representatives in homes described as possible source of respiratory troubles in people and in healthy ones.

Trying to find any relation between these fungal isolates and exposed people, there were tested 593 skin patients and 329 lung patients. As antigens there have been used 5 antigens prepared from original isolates and commercially antigen “molds”.

From the skin patients, ali suspected to be affected by some allergic condition, 12,31% reacted to antigens “molds”. In hospitalized patients affected by various skin diseases, 66,66% reacted to molds antigens. The reactivity on individual antigens was not uniform, and 61,04% reacted to molds antigens, but 52,05% to antigen of aspegilli only, 43,82% to antigen of alternaria only, 25,05% to antigen of mycor only. In 9,5% of the patients there were found reaction to the molds antigen and antigen of aspergilli, in 13,69% to the antigen of molds and that of alternaria, an in the same ration also to the antigens of aspergilli and alternaria. In smaller proportion was found the reactivity to the antigen of aspergilli and mycor.

Lung patients, tuberculous (246) and non-tuberculous ones (83) reacted to all antigens, i. e. in tuberculous group with 45%, in non-tuberculous group with 25%. Is in skin patients the reactivity was not uniform. To only one antigen reacted in tuberculous group 32% (to mycor 13%, to asperilli 8%, penicillia 5% and alternaria 5%), but a large group reacted to the molds antigen (11%). In non-tuberculous patients 4% reacted to the antigen of aspergilli or penicillia only, 3% to the antigen of alternaria only and no more than 1% to that one of mycor. No one patient reacted to the group antigen of molds. In tuberculous patients 8% reacted to all 5 antigens, 6% to antigens of aspergilli, penicillia, mycor and to the molds, in all possible combinations, changing different representatives in reactivity pattern. About the same reactivity was found also in non-tuberculous patients.

Author is discussing his finding in respect of the significance of these reactivities for the patients and their expositions to the airborne fungi, and supposes that reactivity should reflect previous expositions, but better methods are recommended and needed to State a specific relationship between underlying diseases and molds reactivity.