Airborne Fungi Linked to Asthma Epidemic in Puerto Rico

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Airborne Fungi Linked To Asthma Epidemic In Puerto Rico

ScienceDaily (Mar.. 10, 2009) — A survey of airborne fungi and fungal spores

found in Eastern Puerto

Rico suggests that certain species may be a major cause of the high

incidence of childhood asthma in this part of the world. A new article

suggests this information could be used to alleviate human factors that

lead to high levels of such fungi.

Worldwide asthma incidence has been on the increase since the latter

part of the twentieth century.. It is a chronic breathing disorder with

both genetic and environmental factors influencing symptoms and no

single known cause. According to the US Center for Disease Control,

Puerto Rico has a higher overall prevalence of lifetime (19.6%) and

current (11.6%) asthma than other parts of the Americas. Incidence

among the under-eighteens is particularly high in the eastern part of

the island.

Research suggests that interactions between genetic susceptibility

and environmental triggers may be responsible for raised incidence in

particular regions.

Alberto Rentas, now working at the National Institute of

General Medical Sciences, at the National Institute of Health, in

Bethesda, land, working with Christian Velez of the Universidad

Metropolitana of San and of the Universidad del

Turabo, in Gurabo, Puerto Rico, have now isolated and identified

microbial fungi, which they suggest are linked to asthma.

They point out that allergens and pollution are undoubtedly

important factors in the development of asthma, although they alone

cannot be the sole cause of its increasing, widespread prevalence. In

considering Puerto Rico, they suggest that no studies have so far

investigated the particularly high incidence of the disorder there in

an integrated way.

The team sampled air from eleven communities in the municipality of

Caguas. From these samples they identified a total of 514 different

fungi and correlated the general family groups, the fungal genus, with

precise location. Using the Geographic Information Systems they could

address factors of geology, geography, vegetation abundance,

atmospheric conditions and human activities such as industry and

vehicle traffic that might influence fungal distribution.

Airborne fungi are a potential health hazard to everyone. They can

impact human health in four main ways: infecting people, acting as

allergens, they can be toxic and carcinogenic, or they can cause

inflammatory reactions.

Rentas and colleagues found that two particular fungal groups

- Cladosporium and Mycelia sterilia were more common than others. When

they classified the sampled regions they saw that four of the six

locations sampled having the highest number of fungal colonies as

urban. These developed areas have moderate to high vehicular traffic.

The work provides evidence of asthma-related fungi in the area,

although this alone does not account for the observed high asthma

prevalence.

" This work revealed the presence of fungal allergens that can be

potential asthma triggers and establishes a rationale for future

research in this area, " the researchers conclude.

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Journal reference:

1. Christian Velez, , and Alberto Rentas. Isolation and

identification of airborne fungi that can cause asthma: a case study from

Eastern Puerto Rico. International Journal of Environmental Technology and

Management, 2009, 10, 243-259

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302115757.htm