Almost all homes, apartments, and commercial buildings will experience leaks, flooding, or other forms of excessive indoor dampness at some point. Not only is excessive dampness a health problem by itself, it also contributes to several other potentially problematic types of situations. Molds and other microbial agents favor damp indoor environments, and excess moisture may initiate the release of chemical emissions from damaged building materials and furnishings. This new book from the Institute of Medicine examines the health impact of exposures resulting from damp indoor environments and offers recommendations for public health interventions. Damp Indoor Spaces and Health covers a broad range of topics. The book not only examines the relationship between damp or moldy indoor environments and adverse health outcomes but also discusses how and where buildings get wet, how dampness influences microbial growth and chemical emissions, ways to prevent and remediate dampness, and elements of a public health response to the issues. A comprehensive literature review finds sufficient evidence of an association between damp indoor environments and some upper respiratory tract symptoms, coughing, wheezing, and asthma symptoms in sensitized persons. This important book will be of interest to a wide-ranging audience of science, health, engineering, and building professionals, government officials, and members of the public.

Fungal diseases have contributed to death and disability in humans, triggered global wildlife extinctions and population declines, devastated agricultural crops, and altered forest ecosystem dynamics. Despite the extensive influence of fungi on health and economic well-being, the threats posed by emerging fungal pathogens to life on Earth are often underappreciated and poorly understood. On December 14 and 15, 2010, the IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop to explore the scientific and policy dimensions associated with the causes and consequences of emerging fungal diseases.

Fungi have become increasingly significant determinants of human health and may cause as heavy a burden to health as viruses, bacteria and parasites. This outcome has occurred on account of the rise in diseases affecting the immune system and in the risk factors associated with advances in technologies used to treat various diseases and human conditions. These trends are no more evident than in tropical locations. This text emphasizes the biology of fungi impacting human health, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. The author draws on his own experience working in tropical Australia, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. A range of information is presented on the natural relationships of fungi, which helps the reader to understand the interactions these microbes engage in with other living organisms including plants and microfauna. Highlighted are the abilities of fungi to survive in soil, on plants and animals and their capacity to adapt to changing conditions and evade attempts to control them. The successes and problems encountered in controlling fungi biologically are outlined, including the development of vaccines. Practical methods to limit the impact of mycotoxins produced by fungi are suggested, including moderating plant growth conditions and being aware of human nutritional status.

Current research lays emphasis on exploring natural products for use in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals to overcome various side effects of synthetic drugs. Fungi occupy an eminent position among natural sources of food and medicinal importance since ancient times. Many fungal species have been eaten as food and used in folk medicine for the treatment of many human ailments as mentioned in traditional medical literature. However, scanty information is available pertaining to the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical importance of fungi which merits an extensive review. This book spotlights the use value macrofungi in human health. Macrofungi with health benefitting properties largely belong to Basidiomycota followed by Ascomycota growing indoor (cultivated) and outdoor (wild). We endeavoured to throw light on the benefits of macrofungal taxa in relation to their food and medicinal significance in human life. We provided knowledge pertaining to the ethnomycological significance of macrofungi with respect to their uses as food and medicine by the people inhabiting different parts of the world. This book highlights the nutritional composition and bioactive compounds present in macrofungi. We also focused on the pharmacological activities of macrofungi contributing towards their medicinal value against several human disorders. We cited many commercially available nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products of macrofungal origin. This work will hopefully serve as a basic reference for general public, mycologists, researches and industry men, interested in consumption, research and marketing of macrofungi.

Fungi research and knowledge grew rapidly following recent advances in genetics and genomics. This book synthesizes new knowledge with existing information to stimulate new scientific questions and propel fungal scientists on to the next stages of research. This book is a comprehensive guide on fungi, environmental sensing, genetics, genomics, interactions with microbes, plants, insects, and humans, technological applications, and natural product development.

The purpose of this book was not to provide a comprehensive overview of the vast arena of how fungi and fungal metabolites are able to improve human and animal nutrition and health; rather, we, as Guest Editors, wished to encourage authors working in this field to publish their most recent work in this rapidly growing journal in order for the large readership to appreciate the full potential of wonderful and beneficial fungi. Thus, this Special Issue welcomed scientific contributions on applications of fungi and fungal metabolites, such as bioactive fatty acids, pigments, polysaccharides, alkaloids, terpenoids, etc., with great potential in human and animal nutrition and health.

The Oxford Textbook of Medical Mycology is a comprehensive reference text which brings together the science and medicine of human fungal disease. Written by a leading group of international authors to bring a global expertise, it is divided into sections that deal with the principles of mycology, the organisms, a systems based approach to management, fungal disease in specific patient groups, diagnosis, and treatment. The detailed clinical chapters take account of recent international guidelines on the management of fungal disease. With chapters covering recent developments in taxonomy, fungal genetics and other 'omics', epidemiology, pathogenesis, and immunology, this textbook is well suited to aid both scientists and clinicians. The extensive illustrations, tables, and in-depth coverage of topics, including discussion of the non-infective aspects of allergic and toxin mediated fungal disease, are designed to aid the understanding of mechanisms and pathology, and extend the usual approach to fungal disease. This textbook is essential reading for microbiologists, research scientists, infectious diseases clinicians, respiratory physicians, and those managing immunocompromised patients. Part of the Oxford Textbook in Infectious Disease and Microbiology series, it is also a useful companion text for students and trainees looking to supplement mycology courses and microbiology training.

Stresses molecular and biochemical studies of opportunistic and frank fungal pathogens! This book gives a comprehensive overview of human pathogenic fungi that offers a current and concise survey of virulence factors, host responses and recognition, treatment and diagnosis of infections, invasive enzymes, intracellular survival, morphogenesis, adaptation, and properties of major fungal pathogens that contribute to disease. Focuses on human fungal infections, including candidiasis, pneumocystosis, aspergillosis, and cryptococcosis. With over 3700 references to accommodate continuing study, Fungal Pathogenesis covers natural and acquired immunity, vaccine development, and immune reconstitution outlines rapid identification of major mycoses utilizing antigen capture and molecular assays details signaling and phenotypic switching discusses the value of genomics in validation highlights state-of-the-art molecular methodologies to study disease-causing organisms describes available and potential antifungal drug targets and drug development considers predicting the consequences of drug resistance on patient management presents topical observations on strain typing and variation and more! Containing research into the virulence, immunity, diagnosis, and therapy of most common fungal infections, Fungal Pathogenesis is an unparalleled reference for microbiologists, virologists, pathologists and phytopathologists, infectious disease specialists, molecular and cell biologists, biochemists, immunologists, medical mycologists, biotechnologists, and geneticists, and an exceptional text for upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and medical school students in these disciplines.

Fungi: Biology and Applications, Second Edition provides a comprehensive treatment of fungi, covering biochemistry, genetics and the medical and economic significance of these organisms at introductory level. With no prior knowledge of the subject assumed, the opening chapters offer a broad overview of the basics of fungal biology, in particular the physiology and genetics of fungi and also a new chapter on the application of genomics to fungi. Later chapters move on to include more detailed coverage of topics such as antibiotic and chemical commodities from fungi, new chapters on biotechnological use of fungal enzymes and fungal proteomics, and fungal diseases of humans, antifungal agents for use in human therapy and fungal pathogens of plants.

Explores the appearance, characteristics, and behavior of protists and fungi, lifeforms which are neither plants nor animals, using specific examples such as algae, mold, and mushrooms.