I've had recurring sinus, sore throat/ laryngitis, asthma, PND, lower respiratory infections (viral and/or bacterial) since last spring, worse since this past fall. Antibiotics seem to quickly albeit temporarily clear up the green/yellow but other lingering symptoms persist. A few weeks ago I asked for a sputum culture (the results below) which were negative. My GP says it is allergies and quite frankly I feel written off. No pollens/molds in my area at this time and my house is a model allergy home (no carpet, no pets, no excess moisture, HEPA filters, air purifier, etc), I called an indoor air quality company. Found barely trace amts of mold in basement (both air and surface), but found small amounts of aspergillus/pencillium in bedroom (264/m3). Surprising b/c my HEPA air purifier had been running in that room up until about an hour before they got there (it ran all night). This bedroom has bathroom & last spring, we removed the top of the shower bench and found the inside was covered in slimy black/brown mold. The materials inside the bench were cleaned (not removed) and the bench recovered. I'm concerned that the inside of the bench is moist and the mold continues to be active My questions are: 1) Is asp/pencili only an allergen? It doesn’t cause other damage?; 2) Hubby feels we can’t see or smell the mold and that the spore levels of 264 (after air purifying BTW) are so low they should not be the cause of my symptoms. Are the "spores" the only aspect of mold that acts as an allergen or irritant?
I want the air quality people to come back out & test the inside of the bench because I want to know what's in there. Any insight or suggestions either for them or for me (medically) would be appreciated as I'm left to think of all the possible issues on my own. Thanks!
SPECIMEN DESCRIPTION: SPUTUM; SPECIAL REQUESTS: NONE; GRAM SMEAR: MANY WBC'S SEEN ; GRAM SMEAR: RARE MIXED ORAL FLORA OBSERVED ; CULTURE: SMALL AMOUNT NORMAL RESPIRATORY FLORA ISOLATED