Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffAspergillus mold is virtually unavoidable. Outdoors, it's found in decaying leaves and compost and on plants, trees and grain crops. Inside, the spores — the reproductive parts of mold — thrive in air conditioning and heating ducts, insulation, and some food and spices. Aspergillus is so common in old buildings, even in older hospitals, that small epidemics have occurred among people with weakened immune systems when nearby buildings have been torn down.
Everyday exposure to aspergillus is rarely a problem for people with healthy immune systems. When mold spores are inhaled, immune system cells simply surround and destroy them. But people who have a weakened immune system from illness or immunosuppressant medications have fewer infection-fighting cells. This allows aspergillus to take hold, invading the lungs and, in the most serious cases, other parts of the body.
Aspergillosis is not contagious from person to person.
- Segal BH. Aspergillosis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;360:1870.
- Treatment of aspergillosis. Arlington, Va.: Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2008;46:327.
- Aspergillosis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/aspergillosis_gi.html. Accessed Jan. 3. 2011.
- Aspergillosis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/sec14/ch180/ch180c.html?qt=aspergillosis&alt=sh. Accessed Jan. 3, 2011.
- Denning DW. Aspergillosis. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2896200. Accessed Jan. 4, 2011.
- Sugar AM. Clinical features and diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 30, 2010.
- Sherif R, et al. Pulmonary aspergillosis: Clinical presentation, diagnostic tests, management and complications. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. 2010;16:242.
- Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. January 13, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on