Abstract
The need to measure bioaerosols has increased dramatically in recent years due to the growing incidence of respiratory diseases. Fungi are among the most common bioaerosols that humans inhale and exposure to fungi in domestic and occupational environments has been associated with adverse health effects such as infections, allergies, mycotoxicoses, or irritations [1]. Numerous fungal species are known to produce virulence factors, mycotoxins, and allergens, but many of the fungi that occur naturally in the environment remain uncharacterized. This is partly due to the tremendous diversity of fungal species in the environment, the current lack of analytical methods for the detection and characterization of fungal exposures, and the absence of standardized fungal extracts for the development of immunodiagnostic assays. Many strategies have evolved to sample, identify, and interpret fungal exposure; however, no strategy serves all purposes, as exposure is a complex and dynamic process confounded by spatial, temporal, and geographic variations in airborne counts. Current techniques for fungal exposure assessment rely on sample cultivation or volumetric air sampling in combination with light microscopy [2]. However, these techniques are often time consuming and subjective and require mycological expertise. More recently, molecular techniques based on PCR and immunoassays have been developed to overcome some of these limitations, although the quantification of viable fungal particles still remains a challenge [2].
