Beware the mold stachybotrys 11-5-97

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Beware the mold stachybotrys

'The average person will spread the mold'

November 5, 1997

Web posted at: 11:34 p.m. EST (0434 GMT)

From Correspondent Joan MacFarlane

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Michigan (CNN)-- Deloris 's 14-month-old

granddaughter, Mikala, used to run freely through her house, but lately she

has developed breathing problems.

hasn't been feeling so well herself. She gets headaches and often

feels ill, especially when she's in her basement.

All this happened after the rains came this spring, flooding 's

basement and leaving behind something strange.

" There was a small, round, black circle which I attributed to a hole in the

drywall, " she says.

But it wasn't a hole. It was a mold called stachybotrys. And it was making

them sick.

The symptoms and her grandchild display are indicative of those who

have been exposed to stachybotrys, a mold so potent that a doctor in Ohio

has linked it to the deaths of ten infants.

Dr. Dorr Dearborn, a pediatric pulmonary specialist in Cleveland, discovered

the relationship between the infants and the mold after a rash of bleeding

lung cases following Ohio's spring floods in 1994.

" These are young infants, " Dearborn said. " Most of them are less than six

months old and often less than two months. They'll come in with either

coughing blood or having major nosebleeds. "

'The average person will spread the mold'

The mold grows after a flood, or when a sewer backs up. The fungus can

become airborne and spread through the heating ducts, which can make

removing the mold dangerous.

That, in turn, puts a premium on cleaning up properly after a house has

flooded, but Dr. Riegel of Healthy Homes says it is something that

few people do.

" The average person who goes to clean it up, who doesn't do it

professionally and doesn't contain the area, will spread the mold and you'll

have a higher concentration, " he said.

Getting rid of the stachybotrys isn't always cheap. To remove it safely

could cost the s close to $10,000.

It is important to bear in mind that while stachybotrys is potent and must

be dealt with efficiently, most black molds are not stachybotrys.

Stachybotrys grows only on wood and paper products, and can be found in only

about 2 to 5 percent of American homes.

Nonetheless, " It's kind of unnerving, " said. " I am ready to move,

but where am I going? This is my home. I can't afford to just pack up and

leave. "