Aspergillus is a genus of mold that can be found indoors. Some species of this genus can be detrimental to human beings and pets and have the ability to cause Aspergillosis.
Aspergillosis is the name of a variety of different diseases that are caused by Aspergillus molds. Those who have weak immune systems, such as infants and the elderly, and those who have compromised immune systems, such as people with HIV, AIDs, or other diseases that weaken the body are particularly at risk to develop one of many forms of Aspergillosis.
The symptoms of Aspergillosis can include cough, chest pain or trouble breathing, and fever. Typically only people with immune systems that are already weak or who already suffer from other kinds of lung diseases are in danger of developing the disease. Major forms of the disease that occur in human beings are allergic aspergillosis, which affects cystic fibrosis, asthma, and sinusitis patients, acute invasive aspergillosis, and disseminated invasive aspergillosis. The most common species of Aspergillus molds that cause diseases in humans and animals are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus.
Something named after the Aspergillus genus is an aspergilloma, which is also called a mycetoma or a fungus ball. This is a collection of fungus which exists in a cavity in a person or animal’s body such as the lungs and Aspergillus is the culptrit of most of these infections. Most people who have aspergillomas don’t have any symptoms that are related to the fungus growing inside them and so people often live for decades without knowing about their infection. The most common symptom of having aspergillomas is the coughing up of blood or hemoptysis; this blood loss is usually not consequential, merely a sign that aspergillomas could exist in the body.
These diseases not only occur in humans, but also in plants and animals. Wasted grain with aspergillus mold colonies growing on it and feed lots in the area around Burley, Idaho is suspected to have caused the death of over 2,000 mallard ducks. Moldy grain was also the cause of death in about 500 mallards in 2005 in Iowa.
While some Aspergillus molds can be harmful to human beings, other molds from this genus are used commercially, particularly in Japan where beverages such as sake are fermented using Aspergillus oryzae. Aspergillus niger is also used as a major source of citric acid and it accounts for over 99% of the globe’s citric acid production and this is total to more than 4.5 million metric tons a year.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A Few Quick Facts About Mold
Something that a lot of people don’t know about mold is that it is everywhere we are. It’s hard to escape mold entirely, because it’s in the air we breathe. It is a form of fungi that grows all around the world and there are countless species of it that can be almost any color you can think of. A lot of them are harmless, but the ones that aren’t, such as toxic black mold, are the ones that most people are concerned about growing in their homes. Along with being unsightly, it can cause many health complications, especially if someone living or working in the affected area is allergic to it.
How does it get into your building? It usually comes from outdoors, either due to water leaking into the house from outside or because the humidity in a home is too high. Areas with water damage such as roofs, flooded areas, crawl spaces, and plumbing leaks are often sites for mold infections.
Why should you worry about it? Aside from the health complications that some molds can cause, it has been known to grow on furniture, clothing stuffed into the backs of closets, and even children’s toys. All these items need to be cleaned thoroughly and sterilized before being used again, if they’re used again at all. Some items like clothing are easier to throw away than they are to clean. The structural damage that mold can cause to your home overtime can be substantial and as soon as you discover a mold infestation, it’s best to either call in a professional to get rid of it or, if it’s a smaller infection, remove the mold and clean the area yourself using the different testing and cleaning kits that are available on the market today.
Who should worry about mold the most? The people who are most affected by mold in their homes or places of business are infants and small children, the elderly, people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or emphysema, anyone with a weakened immune system, such as people with HIV or AIDS, chemotherapy patients, anyone who has just had surgery, and pregnant women.
How do you prevent mold? The easiest way to prevent mold is to make sure your home is a cool and dry environment. Bathrooms and kitchens should be paid special attention to. Clean up spills and leaking water quickly and do not allow standing water in any part of your home, even the basement, because the infestation can and will spread to other areas of your home. Do your best to direct heat and moisture from clothes dryers, dish washers, stoves, and bathrooms outside your home with the appropriate fans and vents.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
How does it get into your building? It usually comes from outdoors, either due to water leaking into the house from outside or because the humidity in a home is too high. Areas with water damage such as roofs, flooded areas, crawl spaces, and plumbing leaks are often sites for mold infections.
Why should you worry about it? Aside from the health complications that some molds can cause, it has been known to grow on furniture, clothing stuffed into the backs of closets, and even children’s toys. All these items need to be cleaned thoroughly and sterilized before being used again, if they’re used again at all. Some items like clothing are easier to throw away than they are to clean. The structural damage that mold can cause to your home overtime can be substantial and as soon as you discover a mold infestation, it’s best to either call in a professional to get rid of it or, if it’s a smaller infection, remove the mold and clean the area yourself using the different testing and cleaning kits that are available on the market today.
Who should worry about mold the most? The people who are most affected by mold in their homes or places of business are infants and small children, the elderly, people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or emphysema, anyone with a weakened immune system, such as people with HIV or AIDS, chemotherapy patients, anyone who has just had surgery, and pregnant women.
How do you prevent mold? The easiest way to prevent mold is to make sure your home is a cool and dry environment. Bathrooms and kitchens should be paid special attention to. Clean up spills and leaking water quickly and do not allow standing water in any part of your home, even the basement, because the infestation can and will spread to other areas of your home. Do your best to direct heat and moisture from clothes dryers, dish washers, stoves, and bathrooms outside your home with the appropriate fans and vents.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
Water Damage Everywhere, Can You Prevent It?
We all hate it when the bathtub or the toilet overflows, but what about the long term consequences of such an occurrence? Not cleaning up spilled water completely can do a lot of damage to the floors and walls of your home, not to mention creating a good environment for mold to grow in.
Clean up as much of the spilled water as you can. If you have carpet, soak up all the water on the surface that you can and after that, pull up the carpet so you can get underneath it. Drying the carpet as thoroughly as possible is the most important thing. Mold and mildew grows in carpet and once it starts to grow, there is not a whole lot that you can do to remove it. Carpet is a bad thing to have inside a bathroom and most people know that. If you do have carpet there, remove it and install tile or laminate that is caulked around thoroughly.
You need to have a vent installed in the bathroom, preferably above the bathtub or the shower stall. This will allow the steam and heat to escape the bathroom, go through the attic, and outside into the atmosphere. Letting the steam stay locked up in the bathroom with the door closed while you are bathing or showering is a bad idea because the ceiling and walls soak up the moisture and then dry that way. This is another cause of mold growth.
Keep a check on the plumbing that goes to your dishwasher and to the washer in your laundry room. Either of these household appliances can malfunction and leave your kitchen or laundry room floor flooded and if it happens while you are not at home, you will have lost quite a lot of time that could have been used cleaning it up before your floor has a chance to absorb it.
Any plumbing underneath the bathroom and kitchen sinks should also be examined for leaks on a regular basis, around once a month just to be safe. A leak can spring up overnight, so it is important to catch these as soon as you can to prevent any damage from occurring.
A leaking roof is also another regular cause of water damage and the signs of it are well known, especially when the water seeps through the sheetrock and stains the ceiling.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Miami water Damage companies.
Clean up as much of the spilled water as you can. If you have carpet, soak up all the water on the surface that you can and after that, pull up the carpet so you can get underneath it. Drying the carpet as thoroughly as possible is the most important thing. Mold and mildew grows in carpet and once it starts to grow, there is not a whole lot that you can do to remove it. Carpet is a bad thing to have inside a bathroom and most people know that. If you do have carpet there, remove it and install tile or laminate that is caulked around thoroughly.
You need to have a vent installed in the bathroom, preferably above the bathtub or the shower stall. This will allow the steam and heat to escape the bathroom, go through the attic, and outside into the atmosphere. Letting the steam stay locked up in the bathroom with the door closed while you are bathing or showering is a bad idea because the ceiling and walls soak up the moisture and then dry that way. This is another cause of mold growth.
Keep a check on the plumbing that goes to your dishwasher and to the washer in your laundry room. Either of these household appliances can malfunction and leave your kitchen or laundry room floor flooded and if it happens while you are not at home, you will have lost quite a lot of time that could have been used cleaning it up before your floor has a chance to absorb it.
Any plumbing underneath the bathroom and kitchen sinks should also be examined for leaks on a regular basis, around once a month just to be safe. A leak can spring up overnight, so it is important to catch these as soon as you can to prevent any damage from occurring.
A leaking roof is also another regular cause of water damage and the signs of it are well known, especially when the water seeps through the sheetrock and stains the ceiling.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Miami water Damage companies.
Penicilliosis In Southeast Asia
Even though Penicillin was developed back in the 1940’s to help combat infections caused by bacteria and it was developed from penicillium mold, other species of penicillium molds can also cause diseases. One such disease, called penicilliosis, occurs predominantly in Southeast Asia.
The mold that causes the disease, Penicillium marneffei, is indigenous to the region and so the cases of the disease are generally confined to that area, although people traveling to the region can become infected if they are not careful. People particularly at risk are those diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and it has been called the third most common opportunistic infection in these people.
This mold is a fungus at room temperature, but like with any other mold, when it enters the body and is warmed up to body temperature, it changes into a yeast. The symptoms of a case of Penicilliosis are generally anemia, fever, lesions on the skin, generalized lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, and weight loss. The skin lesions generally are located on the genitalia, face, ears, toes, and fingers, but the symptom that happens the most often is a skin rash that can cause small bumps on the top skin layer and some of these bumps can have ulceration. This happens most often on the upper part of the body.
Fungus cultures can be grown from the swabbing of skin lesions and this is to identify the infection as being Penicilliosis, but this is not the only way to detect this infection. A biopsy of bone marrow, skin lesions, or lymph nodes can also detect the presence of the fungi in the body. When the fungus is grown in a Petri dish, it has a flat green surface and a red color on the bottom.
It is advised that anyone with HIV or AIDS who is going to be traveling to the region of Southeast Asia should be very careful or to not travel there at all. This is a dangerous infection, especially in someone with a compromised immune system. Without treatment, this disease tends to have a high mortality rate and even when treatment is administered, the mortality rate still lingers around the area of twenty percent. Treatment often comes in the form of an antifungal drug called amphotericin and is followed up with a maintenance-type drug named itraconazole. If you have been to Southeast Asia recently and are experiencing any of the symptoms named here, you should seek medical treatment immediately.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
The mold that causes the disease, Penicillium marneffei, is indigenous to the region and so the cases of the disease are generally confined to that area, although people traveling to the region can become infected if they are not careful. People particularly at risk are those diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and it has been called the third most common opportunistic infection in these people.
This mold is a fungus at room temperature, but like with any other mold, when it enters the body and is warmed up to body temperature, it changes into a yeast. The symptoms of a case of Penicilliosis are generally anemia, fever, lesions on the skin, generalized lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, and weight loss. The skin lesions generally are located on the genitalia, face, ears, toes, and fingers, but the symptom that happens the most often is a skin rash that can cause small bumps on the top skin layer and some of these bumps can have ulceration. This happens most often on the upper part of the body.
Fungus cultures can be grown from the swabbing of skin lesions and this is to identify the infection as being Penicilliosis, but this is not the only way to detect this infection. A biopsy of bone marrow, skin lesions, or lymph nodes can also detect the presence of the fungi in the body. When the fungus is grown in a Petri dish, it has a flat green surface and a red color on the bottom.
It is advised that anyone with HIV or AIDS who is going to be traveling to the region of Southeast Asia should be very careful or to not travel there at all. This is a dangerous infection, especially in someone with a compromised immune system. Without treatment, this disease tends to have a high mortality rate and even when treatment is administered, the mortality rate still lingers around the area of twenty percent. Treatment often comes in the form of an antifungal drug called amphotericin and is followed up with a maintenance-type drug named itraconazole. If you have been to Southeast Asia recently and are experiencing any of the symptoms named here, you should seek medical treatment immediately.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Preventing Damage From Wildfires
If you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, such as certain areas of California, you should do what you can to protect your home from them. While it may seem pretty hopeless once a wildfire is on a path that will go straight through your home, there are some things that you can do to try and minimize the damage.
The first thing that you can do if you own your home is to outfit it with fire resistant materials. The roof is perhaps the most important surface that you should take care of, since it is the largest surface of the home that is exposed to sparks of fire that have become airborne. If there is a wildfire near your house, you should take your water hose and keep the roof wet as much as possible to stop this threat. Fire-resistant roofing materials are large in number and include tile, metal, and fiberglass. Any oil-based roofing material should be replaced and wooden shingles are a disaster waiting to happen.
Fire-resistant materials should also be used to build the walls and windows of the house, since this can impede the spreading of the fire to the interior. Stone, metal, and brick offer a decent amount of protection, but vinyl siding and wood provide extremely little. The windows are important because heat will radiate inside the house and possibly set drapes on fire, so having smaller windows in homes that are at risk is a good idea.
Another thing that you can do to your lawn if a wildfire is nearby is wetting it with the water hose. This can also slow the fire’s spread to your house some. Do not allow dead leaves and other debris to build up in the yard during wildfire season and try to get rid of any tree branches that are hanging over your house. You can even go as far as to have these trees that are close to your home removed, but that is a personal preference. It will help, but some people may not want to sacrifice them.
If you have to evacuate, realize that you cannot take everything with you. Take only the most important valuables and get out as soon as you can. If you have time and are leaving voluntarily, take the opportunity to wet your yard, roof, and the exterior of your house again. This is pretty much all you can do at this point and the rest is in the hands of nature.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
The first thing that you can do if you own your home is to outfit it with fire resistant materials. The roof is perhaps the most important surface that you should take care of, since it is the largest surface of the home that is exposed to sparks of fire that have become airborne. If there is a wildfire near your house, you should take your water hose and keep the roof wet as much as possible to stop this threat. Fire-resistant roofing materials are large in number and include tile, metal, and fiberglass. Any oil-based roofing material should be replaced and wooden shingles are a disaster waiting to happen.
Fire-resistant materials should also be used to build the walls and windows of the house, since this can impede the spreading of the fire to the interior. Stone, metal, and brick offer a decent amount of protection, but vinyl siding and wood provide extremely little. The windows are important because heat will radiate inside the house and possibly set drapes on fire, so having smaller windows in homes that are at risk is a good idea.
Another thing that you can do to your lawn if a wildfire is nearby is wetting it with the water hose. This can also slow the fire’s spread to your house some. Do not allow dead leaves and other debris to build up in the yard during wildfire season and try to get rid of any tree branches that are hanging over your house. You can even go as far as to have these trees that are close to your home removed, but that is a personal preference. It will help, but some people may not want to sacrifice them.
If you have to evacuate, realize that you cannot take everything with you. Take only the most important valuables and get out as soon as you can. If you have time and are leaving voluntarily, take the opportunity to wet your yard, roof, and the exterior of your house again. This is pretty much all you can do at this point and the rest is in the hands of nature.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
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