Anyone can suffer from mold illness symptoms after inhaling the spores of black mold or other indoor-growing fungi. Some groups of people, however, have special health risks. Individuals with allergies will experience symptoms whenever they encounter even minute amounts of fungal allergens. People with asthma, and especially children, may have allergy-induced asthma attacks. Serious fungal infection threatens patients with lung disease or immune system suppression. Workers who may or may not know of air quality problems can develop chronic lung conditions from long-term mold exposure.
Acute Respiratory Distress
Shortly after ingesting fungal spores, anyone who is sensitive or allergic to them will enter a histamine-induced stage of physical symptoms, as the Mayo Clinic relates. Histamine compounds in the bloodstream cause inflammation in the airways and a buildup of fluid in the mucous membranes. Signs of mold illness mimic those of hay fever, including throat, nose and eye itching, runny nose and watery eyes, nasal and sinus congestion and coughing and sneezing.
Symptoms will persist as long as patients inhabit the same space with the same air quality. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, advise removing visible black molds. Without removing mold colonies or treating inflammatory conditions, patients may weaken their immune systems and raise their health risks for infection and chronic disease.
Asthma Attack
Individuals who have asthma can develop breathing problems that may be life threatening after mold exposure. The CDC notes that allergy-triggered attacks of asthma symptoms have been conclusively linked with black mold such as Stachybotrys chartarum and other strains of mold such as Aspergillus and Alternaria. Patients may experience throat and chest tightness, wheezing, shortness of breath and respiratory failure brought on by mold illness.
Lung Infection and Disease
A respiratory system weakened by untreated allergies, long-term asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or decreased immune system function has a higher than normal health risk for infection. The CDC points out that fungal spores are particularly opportunistic in invading tissue that can sustain their growth. Susceptible patients can inhale airborne molds into their sinuses or lungs, causing infectious growth that may spread to the kidney or liver. This condition, called aspergillosis, may require surgical removal of fungal masses or may cause death. People with chronic black mold exposure may develop perpetual inflammation, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This mold illness raises the health risk for permanent lung tissue damage, or pulmonary fibrosis. The Mayo Clinic reports that this potentially fatal disease can cause respiratory and cardiac failure.
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