Fungal Contamination Assessment in Portuguese Elderly Care Centers

Viegas, Carla; Almeida-Silva, Marina; Gomes, Anita Quintal; Wolterbeek, H. Th.; Almeida, Susana Marta

doi:10.1080/15287394.2014.861336

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Such a situation may have occurred due to the overgrowth of Crysonilia sitophilia [37] in both the air and surface samples of this latter setting, simultaneously hindering other species that we were not able to identify. High fungal load settings are occupational contexts with high dust contamination [18,19,38,39] and this environmental parameter can act as a fungi carrier and disseminating agent [40]. Previous research work has presented data that relates high dust contamination to high fungi aerossolization [41,42], corroborating this association.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Viegas¹,

Faria²,

Meneses³

et al. 2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: Mycological contamination of occupational environments can be a result of fungal spores' dispersion in the air and on surfaces. Therefore, it is very important to assess it in both types of the samples. In the present study we assessed fungal contamination in the air and in the surface samples to show relevance of surfaces sampling in complementing the results obtained in the air samples. Material and Methods: In total, 42 settings were assessed by the analysis of air and surfaces samples. The settings were divided into settings with a high fungal load (7 poultry farms and 7 pig farms, 3 cork industries, 3 waste management plants, 2 wastewater treatment plants and 1 horse stable) and a low fungal load (10 hospital canteens, 8 college canteens and 1 maternity hospital). In addition to culture-based methods, molecular tools were also applied to detect fungal burden in the settings with a higher fungal load. Results: From the 218 sampling sites, 140 (64.2%) presented different species in the examined surfaces when compared with the species identified in the air. A positive association in the high fungal load settings was found between the presence of different species in the air and surfaces. Wastewater treatment plants constituted the setting with the highest number of different species between the air and surface. Conclusions: We observed that surfaces sampling and application of molecular tools showed the same efficacy of species detection in high fungal load settings, corroborating the fact that surface sampling is crucial for a correct and complete analysis of occupational scenarios.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Viegas¹,

Faria²,

Meneses³

et al. 2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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“…8 Athletes and the common individual that practice sport present a higher risk of contact with bioaerosols and pollution due to the fact that 1. the minute ventilation could proportionally enhance the quantity of inhaled pollutants; 2. most of the air is inhaled through the mouth, bypassing the normal nasal mechanisms of filtration of larger particles and 3. the increased airflow velocity would carry pollutants deeper into the respiratory tract. 9 However, despite the importance of healthy air in sport facilities, indoor air quality (IAQ) studies have been focused principally on schools, [10][11][12][13][14][15] elderly care centres, [16][17][18][19] homes 20 and offices. 21,22 Comparatively, IAQ evaluations carried out in fitness centres (not school gymnasiums) are very scarce and few have been reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the fungal and bacterial microflora and concentrations in fitness centres

Ramos

Viegas

Verde

et al. 2016

Indoor and Built Environment

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Fitness centres are special places where conditions for microbiological proliferation should be considered. Moisture due to human perspiration and water condensation as a result of human physical activities are prevalent in this type of buildings. Exposure to microbial contaminants is clinically associated with respiratory disorders and people who work out in polluted environments would be susceptible to contaminants. This work studied the indoor air contamination in three gymnasiums in Lisbon. The sampling was performed at two periods: at the opening (morning) and closing (night) of the three gymnasiums. The airborne bacterial and fungal populations were sampled by impaction directly onto Tryptic Soy Agar (for bacteria) and Malt Extract Agar (for fungi) plates, using a Merck MAS-100 air sampler. Higher bacterial concentrations were found at night as compared to the morning but the same behaviour was not found for fungal concentrations. Gram-negative catalase positive cocci were the dominant bacteria in indoor air samples of the studied gymnasiums. In this study, 21 genera/species of fungal colonies were identified. Chrysosporium sp., Chrysonilia sp., Neoscytalidium hialinum, Sepedonium sp. and Penicillium sp. were the most prevalent species identified in the morning, while Cladosporium sp., Penicillium sp., Chrysosporium sp., Acremonium sp. and Chrysonilia sp. were more prevalent at night. A well-designed sanitation and maintenance program for gymnasiums is needed to ensure healthier space for indoor physical activity.

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“…Bioaerosols are airbone particles that are living (bacteria, viruses and fungi) or originate from living organisms (pollens) and can contribute to about 5-34% of the indoor air pollution (Skrikanth et al 2008). Indoor airborne bacteria are normally associated with the presence of humans and fungi are usually imported from the outdoor environment (Burge 1995, Macher 1999, Viegas et al 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of bioaerosols in urban and rural primary schools using passive and active sampling methodologies

Canha¹,

Almeida²,

Freitas³

et al. 2015

Archives of Environmental Protection

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Abstract:People spend most of their time in indoor environments and, consequently, these environments are more signifi cant for the contribution of the daily pollutant exposure than outdoors. In case of children, a great part of their time is spent at school. Therefore, evaluations of this microenvironment are important to assess their time-weighted exposure to air pollutants.The aim of this study was to assess the children exposure to bioaerosols at schools from two different types of areas, urban and rural. A methodology based upon passive sampling was applied to evaluate fungi, bacteria and pollens, simultaneously with active sampling for fungi and bacterial assessment. Results showed very good correlations between sampling methods, especially for summer season. Passive sampling methodologies presented advantages such as no need of specifi c and expensive equipment, and they allow achieving important qualitative information.The study was conducted in different periods of the year to study the seasonal variation of the bioaerosols. Fungi and pollen presented higher levels during the summer time whereas bacteria did not present a seasonal variation. Indoor to outdoor ratios were determined to assess the level of outdoor contamination upon the indoor environment. Levels of fungi were higher outdoor and bacteria presented higher concentrations indoors.Indoor levels of bioaerosols were assessed in primary schools of urban and rural areas, using the active method along with a passive sampling method. Very good correlations between methods were found which allow the use of the passive sampling method to supply important and reliable qualitative information of bioaerosols concentrations in indoor environments. Seasonal variation in bioaerosols concentrations were found for fungi and pollen. Concentrations of fungi and bacteria above AMV (Acceptable Maximum Value) were found for most of the studied classrooms showing the importance of this microenvironment for the high exposure of children to bioaerosols.

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Fungal Contamination Assessment in Portuguese Elderly Care Centers

Cited by 32 publications

References 35 publications

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Analysis of surfaces for characterization of fungal burden – Does it matter?

Characterizing the fungal and bacterial microflora and concentrations in fitness centres

Assessment of bioaerosols in urban and rural primary schools using passive and active sampling methodologies

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