A preliminary assessment of Aerofungal Allergens from the wards of civil hospital Aizawl

Air is one of the most important components of environment as well as for living creatures. The air we inhale is heavily infested with a variety of biological particles in addition to inorganic substances such as gas, dust and smoke. Bio-aerosols are air borne particles that are living (bacteria, viruses and fungi). The health effects of bio-aerosols including infectious diseases, acute toxic effects, allergies and these coupled with the threat of bioterrorism and SARS have led to increased awareness on the importance of bio-aerosols. The evaluation of bio-aerosols includes use of variety of methods for sampling depending on the concentration of microorganisms expected. Fungal allergens can cause various health defects especially in sensitive hosts, depending on the kind of mycotoxin and the nature of the exposure effects includes mucous membrane irritation, skin rashes, dizziness, nausea, immunosuppression, birth defects, cancer, Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and Building Related Illness (BRI) which are frequently reported, the symptoms include eye irritation, skin irritation, head ache, drowsiness, reduced mental capacity, mental fatigue etc. The hospital environment can also cause serious problems to the patient whose immunity is already low. So it is important to the hospitals to identify and assess the quantity of the indoor mycoflora and hence the current project carried out in Civil Hospital Aizawl, (CHA) Aizawl, Mizoram.

Totally 13 fungi were isolated from CHA, among them Aspergillus sp. were predominant and followed by Penicillium, Candida, Alternaria, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Curvularia, Cladosporium, Drechslera species etc. Present study has clearly demonstrated that the concentration of airborne fungi was high in CHA.