Pure Air Control Services and the Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory are pleased to introduce "Under the Scope", a new section of the IEQ REVIEW. There are over 100,000 species of fungi. Many fungi are good and useful (edible mushrooms would be an example of these) while some cause problems (some fungi can injure plants and humans). Every week the IEQ Review will describe a specific microorganism, its morphological origin and potential health effects.  If you would like to know about a specific organism and/or would like it published in The IEQ Review please email Dr. Rajiv Sahay with the Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDL) at Pure Air Control Services laboratory@pureaircontrols.com

This week we will cover ... Aspergillus fumigatus
 
Aspergillus  fumigatus causes more infections worldwide than any other mould. Four percent of all patients dying in tertiary care hospitals in Europe have invasive aspergillosis. The fungus causes allergic deseases in asthmatics and patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. Invasive aspergillosis can occur in individuals with cavities caused by tuberculosis or other cystic lung diseases.  Conidiophores are short, smooth-walled and have conical-shaped terminal vesicles which support a single row of phialides on the upper two thirds of the vesicle.  Conidia are produced in basipetal succession forming long chains and are globose to subglobose (2.5-3.0 um in diameter), green and rough-walled.
 
Clinical significance:

Aspergillus fumigatus is truly a cosmopolitan mould and has been found almost everywhere on every conceivable type of substrate, especially soil and decaying organic debris.  A. fumigatus is an important human pathogen and it is the most common cause of all forms of invasive and non-invasive aspergillosis.
 

A. fumigatus                              A. fumigatus