For info on mold removal, please click: Mold Removal.

To find a Certified Mold Inspector or Remediator please visit Certified Mold Inspector.

For info on how fungus [ fungi mold ] cause breathing problem in infants visit Breathing Problem

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis,

caused by Coccidioides immitis.

Mold-Caused Skin Diseases

Mold causes dozens of serious skin diseases. This page explains one mold-caused skin disease [popularly known as "Valley Fever"] that has afflicted millions of people living in southwestern United States. This explanation and the photo's below are from the excellent book The Fifth Kingdom by Bryce Kendrick ---

Coccidioidomycosis is a nasty tongue-twister of a name, often contracted to 'coccy', for the disease caused by Coccidioides immitis. This fungus thrives in dry, saline soils, and is endemic in desert areas of the Southwestern U.S., where the disease is often called 'valley fever,' and Mexico (though it is strangely absent from the deserts of Africa and Asia). The process of infection, progress of the disease, and clinical symptoms, are very similar to those of histoplasmosis, though the fungus is not intracellular, and forms spherical structures containing spores. In culture, the same fungus produces chains of alternate thallic-arthric conidia, and has no known teleomorph. Millions of people in the U.S. Southwest have contracted the disease. Fortunately, as in histoplasmosis, most cases are benign, and healing is spontaneous. A few become systemic, and are usually fatal if untreated or misdiagnosed. The disseminated form of this disease is more common among males than females, and among people with darkly pigmented skin.

The year 2001 has seen an interesting outbreak of this disease in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah. Ten people who had been working at a 'dig' developed acute respiratory coccoidioidomycosis within two weeks of exposure. All were treated with fluconazole, with an average hospital stay of 1.5 days, and released apparently none the worse for their experience. New regulations for digs at Dinosaur call for watering down of the soil before digging, and use of approved respirators (N95).

For more information please visit the web site: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5045a1.htm

Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Solutions

Phil can help you fix your own property’s mold problems at low-cost, more safely, and better-in- results than what is done by many mold inspectors and mold contractors. How can Phil help you?

     1. Read Phil’s five plain-English, mold advice books to master mold inspection, testing, removal, remediation, and prevention for your house, condo, apartment, office, or workplace.

     2. Buy do-it-yourself, affordable mold test kits, mold lab analysis, video inspection scope, mold cleaner, and mold killer, for the successful toxic and household mold inspection, mold testing, mold species identification and quantification, mold cleaning, mold removal, and mold remediation to find mold, kill mold, clean mold, and remove mold from your residence or commercial building.

     3. Get FREE mold advice, mold help, and/or answers to your mold questions, by emailing mold expert Phillip Fry at envirodangers@yahoo.com. You can also email pictures of your mold problems in jpeg file format as email attachments.