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GUIDANCE FOR CLINICIANS ON THE RECOGNITION AND MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH EFFECTS RELATED TO MOLD EXPOSURE INDOORS
Citation:
Impact/Purpose:
The development of a clinical guidance document for recognition and management of health effects related to mold/moisture exposure indoors.
Description:
The prevalence and severity of asthma in children and young adults has increased over the last 20 years. The concentration of allergens in the indoor environment is postulated as a potential cause of this increase. Some investigations have specifically explored the relationship of moisture and mold in the environment with respiratory disease. The increasing time pressures and realities of managed care medicine frequently prevent primary care physicians from exploring linkages between their patients' exposures to toxins or allergens at work or at home and respiratory and other diseases. The guidance will provide primary care physicians access to a concise and comprehensive review of the role fungi in the indoor environment play in respiratory illness. The guidance will enable physicians to recognize the role of indoor molds in the triggering and exacerbation of asthma, allergies and other respiratory diseases, and provide information on appropriate diagnosis, management and treatment of indoor mold related illness. Patients referred to these physicians will get appropriate treatment as well as information on controlling indoor mold and moisture. Asthmatic patients will receive guidance on how to incorporate indoor environmental management into their asthma management plans.
