Cleveland Fertile Ground for pulmonary hemosiderosis

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The Plain Dealer, September 27, 1999

VACCINATING HOMES

Greater Cleveland children have been hit hard by a disease that had no

name until 1994. At least 44 cases of pulmonary hemosiderosis - a bleeding

of the lungs, caused by airborne spores - have been diagnosed at area

hospitals. And in 16 cases, the child died.

But such painful and avoidable deaths could be greatly reduced, thanks to a

$3.15 million grant awarded to Cuyahoga County this month. The grant, which

comes courtesy of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will

be used to fight a toxic mold that sets off the lung ailment.

It is not entirely clear why Cleveland has seen so many cases of the

illness, which affects mostly infants. But researchers suggest that the

area's aging wooden housing stock, combined with wet conditions caused by

the lake, have made Cleveland especially fertile ground for the fungus.

The grant, which was received in large part because of the work of Sen. Mike

DeWine, Rep. Tubbs and former Rep. Louis Stokes, will be

used to find and eliminate mold in as many as 400 homes in affected areas.

The money also will aid doctors in tracking the environment of several

hundred new babies a month.

As DeWine recently said, " All children should be safe in their homes. "

In this era, there is no reason why a child should die of pulmonary

hemosiderosis. This grant should help push the disease the way of smallpox.