Issue link: https://hi.iaq.net/i/191637
Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health 163 INFECTIOUS AGENTS AND PESTS (ABPA), a syndrome of allergic response to fungi that is most common in those who are atopic, those who have cystic fibrosis, and those who have asthma (Patterson and Strek, 2010). Allergic fungal sinusitis is similar in that eosinophil-rich secretions become dense and involved with fungi without tissue invasion; in this case, the organisms involved include the dematiaceous (dark-walled) molds Bipolaris spicifera and Curvularia lunata or Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, and A. flavus (Schubert, 2009). The syndromes of chronic fungal rhinosinusitis are regionally concentrated around the South and Southwest of the United States. These allergic respiratory syndromes straddle the lines between infection, colonization, and allergy. Synthesis Climate change has many effects on infectious diseases, some malign and some ameliorative. How we adapt the indoor environment to the continuing changes in the outdoor environment will be critical determinants of how we affect the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases. In particular, effects on moisture, temperature, and the organisms trafficked into our homes, places of work, hospitals, and schools in water will determine the rates of viral, bacterial, mycobacterial, fungal, and allergic diseases. PESTS Indoor environments contain a number of unwelcome insects, other arthropods, and invasive animals. All of these are at some level sensitive to environmental conditions, but some are more susceptible to the conditions associated with climate change. This section summarizes the available literature on the characteristics of these pests; the health effects of exposure to the allergens and microbial agents that they produce, host, or carry; and how climate-change–induced alterations in the indoor environment— including changes in occupant behavior—may affect adverse exposures associated with them. House Dust Mites House dust mites are microscopic arthropods that are ubiquitous in indoor environments. They are among the most important sources of allergens in house dust and of allergic disease in the United States (IOM, 2000). Exposure Voorhorst and colleagues were the first to show that dust mites of the genus Dermatophagoides were the source of "house dust" allergens Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.