Re: American Society of Microbiology Calls For Tracking System of Mold Illnesses

[Guest guest]

Sharon -

Thank you for posting this. I have been at a loss as to understand

why diseases like " aspergillosis " which are " reportable " are not. It

makes me wonder if there is some secret reporting mechanism and by the

same token, " under-reporting " as aspergillosis is considered an

" emerging infectious disease. "

I wonder if docs are told NOT to report, as it would mean they would

have to " treat " this, and further, why competent testing is not

immediately ordered or arrive at a " competent " diagnosis. This may be

a situation of " mandated incompetence. "

That is why a biopsy and lavage, which are often done in the agrarian

context because of barn spores, needs a universal application if they

are " indicated. " This procedure is done by a lung doc, whereby they

do the " camera, garden snips and hose " to investigate what is going on

in your lungs, if you are coughing up blood, or for other reasons. I

am not a doctor.

There is a camera, for photos, snips to clip out sections of tissue

that look diseased or suspicious and some type of solution to flush

out " debris " or whatever. The results if done competently can get you

a " competent " diagnosis. And at that point, no one is in " denial. "

There is a huge need for a national registry to track these fungal

illnesses. There may be some system, but it would seem that it is

being " obstructed " in some fashion.

>

>

> " Public health agencies should implement formal programs to report

cases,

> track disease progress, and design interventions in outbreaks of

fungal

> disease. The lack of reporting and tracking systems has made it

difficult to

> control the spread of fungal pathogens, because

> good epidemiological data on the scope of infection is usually not

> available. "

>

>

>

> Fungi The Cause Of Many Outbreaks Of Disease, But Mostly Ignored

> ScienceDaily*

> (July 1, 2008) †"

>

> _http://www.sciencedhttp://wwhttp://wwhttp://www.scienhttp://w_

> (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701145522.htm)

>

> Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also

> are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every

> year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely

> unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us.

>

> Research on fungi and fungal diseases are seriously neglected as a

> result -- a situation with grave negative repercussions for human

> health, agriculture, and the environment-health, agriculture, and the

> Kingdom: Diverse and Essential Roles in Earth's Ecosystem, a new

> report from the American Academy of Microbiology.

>

> The report is the product of a colloquium convened by the Academy in

> November, 2007, where experts in mycology, medicine, plant

> pathogens, and ecology discussed the current state of research in

> mycology and compiled a list of specific recommendations for future

> work.

>

> " The average person is at risk for several fungal diseases, from

> toenail infections to athlete's foot to life threatening systemic

> infections, " says Arturo Casadevall of the Albert Einstein College

> of Medicine and one of the co-chairs of the colloquium. " Fungi may

> also predispose people to asthma and allergic diseases, " says

> Casadevall. Despite the frequency of fungal infections, according to

> the report they are relatively understudied, making fungal

> infections difficult to diagnose and treat. When faced with an

> undiagnosed fungal infection, doctors are forced to treat their

> patient without a firm grasp of which drugs will work and which

> drugs will only cost the patient valuable time.

>

> But fungi are more than just a medical problem: as the cause of more

> than half of all plant diseases, fungi are also an expensive drain

> on agriculture. The economic repercussions of managing fungal

> pathogens on crops -- the money and effort spent, the numerous

> pesticide applications, the consequences of these applications for

> surface water and soil quality, and the impacts on crop yields --

> are extraordinary.

>

> In the environment, fungi are not seen as a liability but as an

> integral part of their ecosystems They break down dead plants and

> animals (organic matter) into the building blocks plants need for

> growth and they engage in beneficial symbiotic relationships with

> plants, all functions necessary for maintaining healthy ecosystems.

>

> When an ecosystem is disturbed, fungi can behave in unexpected and

> often destructive ways, as in the case of the black mold that is

> overrunning the areas surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

> in Ukraine and outbreaks of coral bleaching that are destroying

> coral reefs. Scientists still do not understand fungi well enough to

> predict how these organisms will behave when their environment is

> disturbed.

>

> Industry and food manufacturing benefit in many ways from the work

> fungi do. " Fungi are workhorses for research and biotechnology,fu

> according to ph Heitman of the Duke University Medical Center,

> the other co-chair of the colloquium. " Both the hepatitis B vaccine

> and Gardasil (the vaccine for papilloma virus) are produced in

> yeast, " he notes.

>

> The importance of fungi to human health, agriculture, the

> environment, and industry demands that we gain a better

> understanding of these organisms. Some of the report's key

> recommendations include:

>

> Evaluate the Impacts of Mold in Homes and Businesses

>

> There is a serious lack of scientific data to support any stance

> with respect to indoor mold toxicity or remediation. More effort

> should be devoted to testing and long-term monitoring of mold

> contamination and human health in New Orleans and other areas

> flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Natural disasters like Hurricane

> Katrina provide natural laboratories for understanding how fungi

> respond to disturbance and the subsequent impacts they have on human

> health.

>

> Create a Fungal Genomes Database

>

> Researchers involved with fungi must focus efforts on developing a

> comprehensive fungal genomics database in order to make the vast

> quantities of sequence data more available and to enable the field

> to fully capitalize on the promise of genomics.

>

> Report and Track Fungal Infections

>

> Public health agencies should implement formal programs to report

> cases, track disease progress, and design interventions in outbreaks

> of fungal disease. The lack of reporting and tracking systems has

> made it difficult to control the spread of fungal pathogens, because

> good epidemiological data on the scope of infection is usually not

> available.

>

>

> Posted by Sharon Kramer

>

>

>

>

>

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>

[Guest guest]

The complete 48 page PDF file of the American Academy of Microbiology

report, that this summary refers to, was posted on the Sickbuildings

files page, on July 2, 2008. The name of the file, as it appears on

the Sickbuildings file page, is: " Mold_Fungal_Kingdom[1]pdf.

The file name on the file page is different from the actual name of

the report, because I had to first download the report to save on my

computer, before I was able to upload the report to the Sickbuildings

files page, and I renamed it to fit into my filing system. Once

anything is renamed to be saved as a document, the rename is the only

way that document will appear, once you upload it elsewhere.

Joe

...............................................

>

>

> " Public health agencies should implement formal programs to report

cases,

> track disease progress, and design interventions in outbreaks of

fungal

> disease. The lack of reporting and tracking systems has made it

difficult to

> control the spread of fungal pathogens, because

> good epidemiological data on the scope of infection is usually not

> available. "

>

>

>

>