January 3, 2003—A new method developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers a faster way, at lower cost, to determine if workers are at risk of exposure on the job to fungal spores that can cause histoplasmosis, a respiratory infection.
Workers at risk of exposure include construction and demolition workers, bridge inspectors and painters, farmers, gardeners, chimney cleaners, workers who install and service heating and air conditioning systems, roofers, and pest control workers.
Histoplasmosis produces flu-like symptoms such as fever, chest pain, chills, cough, and joint or muscle pain. It also can result in a chronic lung disease that may worsen over time. In the severest and rarest form of histoplasmosis, the infection can spread to other organs outside the lungs, and the resulting illness is fatal if untreated and may be fatal even after treatment.
The fungus that causes histoplasmosis, Histoplasma capsulatum, is found widely in soil. It grows best where bird or bat droppings have mixed with soil.
The traditional, multi-step method requires the analysis of tissue cultures from laboratory mice. It requires a few months to complete, typically at a cost of several hundred dollars per sample. The time and cost required has limited the ability to reduce occupational risk in a timely way.
The new analytical method developed by NIOSH employs a DNA analytical technique to identify the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus in a laboratory sample. The sample can be soil, dust, or other environmental materials from a work area suspected of being contaminated with the fungus. NIOSH says the analysis can be completed in less than two days at a cost of $60.
For more information visit NIOSH or call 800/35-NIOSH.
