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The fungus produces cottony fast growing
colonies which mature within four days. From the front
and back it is white in color and changes to black as
it becomes older. It has the following microscopic features:
Separate hyphae which appears the first and has dark
pigments as they come of age. Conidiophores which bear
phialides as their apices and may either be simple or
branched, like the hyphaes.
They also appear first and darken as they
age. Phialides which are circular, have swollen upper
portions, form clusters of tree to ten and are either
pigmented or hyaline. Conidia are one celled, found
in clusters, are oval in shape and are either pigmented
or hyaline. When dealing with this fungi you do not
need special precautions to deal wit it, you only need
to follow common laboratories rules. Strachybotrys produces
trichothecene mycotoxins which are potential inhibitors
of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis.
They spark inflammatory reactions and
disfigure the alveolar concentrations. The toxins get
to the human body through experiments, eating food that
is contaminated with the fungi or by inhaling the fungi
directly. The existence of the stachybotrys fungi was
first seen in cattle and horses in Russia. They caused
several disorders such as rhinitis and neurological
disorders after the animals ate hay which was contaminated
by the fungi. This outbreak caused attention to be drawn
to the stachybotrys fungi and its toxins. It was also
known that it caused the Yellow rain attacks in Asia
by the use of trichothecenes as agents of biologic warfare.
After this many animal tests were done
to show the effects of trichothecenes. A test was done
on mice and it was discovered that the toxins in stachybotrys
can be produced or get airborne on special environmental
setting.
Stachybotrys has been of keen interest
to health workers because of two major reasons. One
main reason is that it is one of the leading contaminants
attacking buildings that cause major problems in the
system design and operational strategies leading to
increased levels in indoor moisture leading to a syndrome
known as “sick building”. This can also occur due
to the infestation of molds and other fungi such as
Penicillin and Cladosporium. The increased level of
moisture has lead to the damaging of interior surfaces
and can lead to human beings being exposed to the risk
of getting asthma and lung diseases.
The second reason why stachybotrys is
of importance to health workers is the fact that it
leads to the development of acute pulmonary hemorrhage
and hemosides in children. The fungus was cultivated
in water damaged houses where the toxins make the children's
capillaries to be more fragile.
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