Identifying indoor air Penicillium species: a challenge for allergic patients.

Purpose: Penicillium is the most common mould isolated in housing. Penicillium chrysogenum is the only species tested by prick test or serology for allergic patients. The American Institute of Medicine has accepted Penicillium as an aetiological agent of rhinitis in children and adults and as an asthma agent in children.

Rural and urban distribution of wild and domestic carnivore stools in the context of Echinococcus multilocularis environmental exposure.

In zoonotic infections, the relationships between animals and humans lead to parasitic disease with severity that ranges from mild symptoms to life-threatening conditions. In cities and their surrounding areas, this statement is truer with the overcrowding of the protagonists of the parasites' life cycle. The present study aims to investigate the distribution of a parasite, Echinococcus multilocularis, which is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis, using copro-sampling in historically endemic rural settlements of the eastern part of France and in newly endemic areas including urban parks and settlements surrounding Paris.

Assessment of pets (cats and dogs) in homes using electrostatic dust collectors and QPCR: new tools to evaluate exposure and risk of allergies.

Contradictory results are found in the literature concerning fungi, bacteria, and pet exposure and the risk of developing asthma. All these allergens have been thoroughly studied separately in cohort studies, and a variety of sampling and analytical methods are used. It is already possible to characterize fungi, mites, and bacteria by QPCR.

Positive fungal quantitative PCR and Th17 cytokine detection in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids: Complementary biomarkers of hypersensitivity pneumonitis?

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a large group of diseases, including hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and sarcoidosis.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to identify bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) biomarkers which could be contributive for HP diagnosis.

Methods: We analyzed 39 BALF samples from 12 ILD patients with sarcoidosis, 11 with IPF and 16 with HP.

Microbiological consequences of indoor composting.

Recycling of organic waste appeals to more and more people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological contamination around organic waste bins at three distances over a 12-month period. Contamination near the customary trash of control households was evaluated at the beginning to ensure that there is no recruitment bias.

Microbiological characterization of 3193 French dwellings of Elfe cohort children.

Although exposure to indoor microorganisms in early life has already been associated with respiratory illness or allergy protection, only a few studies have performed standardized samplings and specific microbial analysis. Moreover, most do not target the different groups of microorganisms involved in respiratory diseases (fungi, bacteria, dust mites). In our study, ten specific qPCR targets (6 fungal species, 1 family and 2 genera of bacteria, 1 house dust mite) were used to analyze the microorganism composition of electrostatic dust fall collector (EDC) from 3193 dwellings of the Elfe French cohort study.

qPCR standard operating procedure for measuring microorganisms in dust from dwellings in large cohort studies.

The aim of the present study was to assess performance, feasibility and relevance of a Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) for large-scale use in the microbial analysis of children's indoor environments. We analyzed dust settled on Electrostatic Dust Fall Collectors (EDCs) by using qPCR which targeted 6 molds, 3 bacteria and 1 mite, chosen for their involvement in allergic or inflammatory processes. Six types of commercialized electrostatic wipes were tested for their releasing capacity of fungal DNA from fungal spores captured by the wipes.

Health effects of occupational exposure in a dairy food industry, with a specific assessment of exposure to airborne lactic acid bacteria.

Objective: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are used in food industries as probiotic agents. The aim of this study is to assess the potential health effects of airborne exposure to a mix of preblend (LAB and carbohydrate) and milk powder in workers.

Methods: A medical questionnaire, lung function tests, and immunologic tests were carried out on 50 workers.

Exposure to moulds and actinomycetes in Alpine farms: a nested environmental study of the PASTURE cohort.

Several studies have suggested that children exposed to a farm environment are protected against allergies and asthma. The present work is an environmental study nested within the PASTURE cohort and includes 97 farmers and 74 non-farmers in three regions of the Alpine Arc (Switzerland, France and Germany). The objectives were to determine and compare the fungi and actinomycetes present in farming and non-farming environments (children's bedrooms and cowsheds), and to identify the agricultural practices associated with an increase in airborne fungi and actinomycetes in cowsheds.

Airborne cultivable microflora and microbial transfer in farm buildings and rural dwellings.

Objectives: Exposure to environments rich in microorganisms such as farms has been shown to protect against the development of childhood asthma and allergies. However, it remains unclear where, and how, farm and other rural children are exposed to microbes. Furthermore, the composition of the microbial flora is poorly characterised.

Cultivable microbial communities in raw cow milk and potential transfers from stables of sixteen French farms.

The indigenous microflora in raw milk plays an important role in the diversity of cheese flavours and may protect against the growth of pathogens, but the sources of contamination and the factors that might affect the microbial communities in milk are not well known. The objectives of this study were to broaden knowledge of the microbial composition of milk and to assess microbial transfers from the stable to the milk. Air (collected in milking parlour and stable), dust (passively collected using plastic box), cow teat surface, and hay and milk samples were collected in 16 French farms with either stanchion barn or freestall barn configurations and plated on various culture media.

Assessment of dust sampling methods for the study of cultivable-microorganism exposure in stables.

Studies have shown a link between living on a farm, exposure to microbial components (e.g., endotoxins or beta-d-glucans), and a lower risk for allergic diseases and asthma.

High levels of grass pollen inside European dairy farms: a role for the allergy-protective effects of environment?

Background: There is evidence of an allergy protective effect in children raised on farm. It has been assumed that microbial exposure may confer this protection. However in farm, little attention has been given to the pollen level and to concomitant microbiological exposure, and indoor pollen concentrations have never been precisely quantified.