HHS HealthBeat (July 06, 2006)

Growing mold

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Mold is nasty, but a lot of homes have it. And a study indicates that a home with enough of it might also have a sick kid.

Researcher Tiina Reponen of the University of Cincinnati looked at the health of one-year-olds in homes that had mold - mildew, for instance. The study in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Reponen says homes with lots of mold were likely to have kids with earaches:

"The risk of ear infections requiring antibiotics was increased fivefold for infants who lived in homes with high mold.'' (eight seconds)

High mold is enough to cover an area the size of two large floor tiles.

Reponen says mold didn't cause the earaches. But she says it can inflame airways and make sensitive tissue more likely to get infected.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 15 2006