Detection of Indoor Fungi

Dear Colleagues,

Building dampness or mold has been shown to be associated quite consistently with a variety of adverse health effects according to reviews carried out on a long list of studies from different geographic areas by scientific bodies, including the WHO. The most relevant diseases that molds can cause are allergies, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and infection. The prevalence of mold allergy is approximately 5% to 30% of patients with atopy. However, there are still many questions and uncertainties around other symptoms, as well as the severity of health risk represented by mold contamination. These precautions stem from many factors, e.g., the fact that the metabolism of fungi (production of mycotoxins, MVOCs, and antigens) depends on many factors; that standardized fungal extracts are not available for clinical studies; and that questionnaire-based studies assessing dampness or mold most often rely on answers from the building occupants which may underestimate the real level of fungal contamination. Finally, common mold detection methods seem to be insufficient (e.g., low volume and frequency of air samples). Detection of indoor mold growth is challenging, even for trained people, and modern architecture does not make the situation any easier, as building materials widely used in modern buildings (e.g., drywall, dropped ceiling, fibrous insulation materials), once wetted, offer an appropriate environment for fungal growth, which often remains unobserved by residents or even professionals.

There are many points of view from which mold problems can be discussed; our focus will be on the detection of fungi in the indoor environment. For this Special Issue of the journal Pathogens, we invite you to submit innovative research papers and review articles as well as brief communications presenting recent advances related to our knowledge of fungi in enclosed spaces, including homes, office buildings, schools, healthcare and industrial settings and extreme indoor environments (HVAC, household devices), etc. Research papers and reviews can cover any aspect of detection methods and related issues of biodiversity, substrate preference, interaction with modern building materials, (chemo)taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, metabolism, pathogenicity, and strategies for mold remediation. We look forward to your contribution.

Dr. Donát Magyar
Guest Editor

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