Stachybotrys chartarum: cause of human disease or media darling?

This is a review of the literature of associations of the saprotrophic fungus Stachybotrys chartarum sensu lato with human and animal illnesses. This fungus grows on very wet cellulose-based building materials. S. chartarum has been the subject of considerable media attention because of temporal ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical Mycology 2003-08, Vol.41 (4), p.271-291
Main Authors: Miller, J. David, Rand, Thomas G., Jarvis, Bruce B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergens - adverse effects
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Hypersensitivity - etiology
Lung Diseases, Fungal - microbiology
Lung Diseases, Fungal - physiopathology
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Microbiology
Mycology
Mycoses - microbiology
Mycoses - physiopathology
Mycoses - veterinary
Mycotoxins - adverse effects
Pathogenicity, host-agent relations, miscellaneous strains, epidemiology
Public Health
Stachybotrys - pathogenicity
Stachybotrys chartarum
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Summary:This is a review of the literature of associations of the saprotrophic fungus Stachybotrys chartarum sensu lato with human and animal illnesses. This fungus grows on very wet cellulose-based building materials. S. chartarum has been the subject of considerable media attention because of temporal associations of exposure with unexpected and dramatic outcomes such as infant pulmonary hemosiderosis and neurocognitive damage. It is generally accepted that living or working in mouldy environments is associated with building related asthma, exacerbating asthma in mould-sensitive asthmatics and increased rates of upper respiratory disease. However, such relationships are with building-associated moulds, comprising many species that colonize wet or damp building materials, and are not specific to S. chartarum. There is limited evidence that severe lung damage can occur from building exposure to S. chartarum but possibly only under conditions of exposure that approach those associated with handling contaminated straw. There is no positive evidence in the literature to account for putative neurological damage resulting from exposure to this mould.
ISSN:1369-3786
1362-3095
1460-2709
DOI:10.1080/1369378031000137350