An environmental investigation was made in a private house where 2 young boys had developed symptoms of airway reactivity and allergy. The results showed high humidities in several rooms with abundant growth of different mould species. Measurements of airborne (1 →3)-β-D-glucan demonstrated an average level of 41.9 ng/m 3 and a peak value of 106. Clinical examination of the boys showed asthmatic bronchitis and one boy had developed antibodies to house dust mite. It is suggested that the moulds and their cell wall constitu ent (1→3)-β-D-glucan were the causative agent for the diseases.
Burge PS, Hedge A., Wilson S., Bass JH, Robert-son A.: Sick buildings syndrome: A study of 4373 office workers. Ann Occup Hyg1987;31: 493-504.
2.
do Pico GA: Report on diseases. Am J Indust Med1986;10:261-265.
3.
Finnegan MJ, Pickering Cac, Burge PS: The sick building syndrome: Prevalence studies. Br Med J1984;289:1573-1575.
4.
Samet JM, Spengler JD (eds): Indoor Air Pollution: A Health Perspective. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, pp 1-408.
5.
Burge HB: Bioaerosols: Prevalence and health effects in the indoor environment . Allergy Clin Immunol1990;86:687-705.
6.
Flannigan B. , McCabe EM, McGarry F: Allergenic and toxigenic micro-organisms in houses. J Appl Bacteriol Symp Suppl1991 ;70:61S-73S.
7.
Strachan DP, Flannigan B., McCabe EM, McGarry F: Quantification of airborne moulds in the homes of children with and without wheeze. Thorax1990; 45:382-387.
8.
Rylander R., Sorensen S., Goto H., Yuasa K., Tanaka S.: The importance of endotoxin and glucan for symptoms in sick buildings ; in Bieva CJ, Courtois Y, Govaerts M (eds): Present and Future of Indoor Air Quality. Amsterdam , Elsevier Science Publishers, 1989, pp 219-226.
9.
Rylander R., Persson K., Goto H., Yuasa K., Tanaka S.: Airborne β, 1-3 glucan may be related to symptoms in sick buildings . Indoor Environ1992;1:263-267.
10.
Di Luzio NR : Lysozyme, glucan activated macrophages and neoplasia. J Reticuloendoth Soc1979;26:67-81.
11.
Fogelmark B. , Rylander R.: Pulmonary inflammation induced by repeated inhalations of (1→3)-β-D-glucan and endotoxin. Int JExp Pathol1994;74:85-90.
12.
Fogelmark B. , Goto H., Yuasa K., Marchat B., Rylander R.: Acute pulmonary toxicity of inhaled β-1,3-glucan and endotoxin. Agents Actions1992;35:50-56.
13.
Leviticus 14th chapter, verses 34-45, The Bible.
14.
Floyer SJ: A Treatise of Asthma, ed 3. London, 1726.
15.
Blackley CH: Hay Fever: Experimental Researches on the Causes, Treatment of Catarrhous aestivus. Baillière Tindall & Cox, London, 1873.
16.
Dales RE, Burnett R., Zwanenburg H.: Adverse health effects among adults exposed to home dampness and molds . Am Rev Respir Dis1991;143:505-509.
17.
Platt SD, Martin CJ, Hunt SM, Lewis CW: Damp housing, mould growth, and symptomatic health state. Br Med J1989 ;298:1673-1678.
18.
Strachan DP , Sanders CH: Damp housing and childhood asthma: Respiratory effects of indoor air temperature and relative humidity. J Epidemiol Community Health1989;43:7-14.
19.
Waegemaekers M., Van Wageningen N, Brunekreef B., Boleij J.: Respiratory symptoms in damp homes. Allergy1989;44:1-7.
20.
Rylander R. , Holt PG: Modulation of immune response to inhaled allergen by co-exposure to the microbial cell wall components (1→3)-β-D-glucan and endotoxin. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, submitted.
21.
Michel O., Ginanni R., Duchateau J., Vertongen F., Le Bon B., Sergysels R.: Domestic endotoxin exposure and clinical severity of asthma. Clin Exp Allergy1991;21:441-448.
22.
Rylander R. , Haglind P.: Airborne endotoxins and humidifier disease . Clin Allergy1984;14: 109-112.
23.
Rylander R. , Bake B., Fischer JJ, Helander IM: Pulmonary function and symptoms after inhalation of endotoxin. Am Rev Respir Dis1989; 140:981-986.
24.
Holt PG: Down-regulation of immune responses in the lower respiratory tract: The role of alveolar macrophages. Clin Exp Immunol1986;63:261-270.
25.
Holt PG, Vines J., Britten D.: Suppression of IgE responses by antigen inhalation: Failure of tolerance mechanism(s) in newborn rats. Immunology1988 ;63:591-593.