Indoor Fungal Exposure and Allergic Respiratory Disease.
A gathering body of evidence has repeatedly revealed associations between indoor fungi and initiation, promotion, and exacerbation of allergic respiratory disease. The relationship between the exposure and outcome are complicated by the difficulties in measuring both exposure and outcome, the multifactorial nature of the disease, and the wide range of potential confounders. New technologies are becoming available that may enable better measurement of exposure and tighter case definitions so as to build more confidence in the associations discovered. The growing strength of the evidence base will aid the design of future public health interventions and generate new hypotheses on the cause of the rapid increase in allergic respiratory disease prevalence.
Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Group, Discipline of Pharmacology, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. nicholas.osborne@sydney.edu.au.|European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3HD, UK. nicholas.osborne@sydney.edu.au.
Nicholas J
NJ
Osborne
Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK. c.r.thornton@exeter.ac.uk.
Christopher R
CR
Thornton
European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3HD, UK. r.sharpe@exeter.ac.uk.
Richard A
RA
Sharpe
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D005658:Fungi / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology*; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000276:immunology*; D012307:Risk Factors
D000485:Allergens
Allergic respiratory disease; Allergy; Asthma; Environment and allergy; Epidemiology; Fungi; Indoor fungal exposure