Flood-driven mold exposure may increase as climate disasters multiply
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published what it described as the first U.S. estimate of the burden of invasive mold infections, detecting about 450 cases across Atlanta-area hospitals over a five-year period and finding that roughly a third of infected patients died in the hospital.
The findings, released this week, come from an effort to better gauge how common these illnesses are. The federal government does not require doctors to report invasive mold infections, which means the 450-case count likely understates the true number, researchers said.
Invasive mold infections are caused by fungi such as Aspergillus that grow inside the body, typically affecting people with weakened immune systems. The infections can be difficult to diagnose and treat.
“It’s kind of the first time we’ve had an estimate like this,” said Dr. Jeremy Gold, a CDC researcher and the study’s senior author.
Gold said understanding the scope of the problem now is important because it may grow in the future. Mold exposure is a recurring problem after hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters influenced by climate change, researchers have found. As extreme weather events become more frequent, the risk of mold-related illness may increase.
The study was published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.