Residential fungal contamination and health: microbial cohabitants as covariates

Abstract

An association between symptoms and residential mold growth has been consistently observed in several countries, but the contribution of dust mites and bacterial endotoxins to this relation has not been established. To address this issue, we studied a sample of 403 Canadian elementary school children during the winter months. Reported mold growth was compared to respiratory and nonspecific symptoms before and after adjusting for dust mite antigens and bacterial endotoxin. A 12-50% relative increase in symptom prevalence was associated with reported mold growth both before and after adjusting for subject characteristics, dust mite antigens, and endotoxins. In conclusion, the association between residential fungal contamination and symptoms is not confounded by dust mites or bacterial endotoxins or other known disease-causing agents.