Investigation of a series of samples of house dust for the presence of fungi: Correlation with previous investigations of air-borne fungi and sensitivity tests on patients

Summary A series of 198 samples of house dust were collected by vacuum cleaners from the homes of patients with allergic disorders. Suspensions in various dilutions were inoculated on to Sabouraud's agar. Twelve common genera accounted for 89.5% of the fungi identified. The results are compared with previous surveys of outdoor air and with the results of scratch tests performed on 119 of the patients from whose houses the dust had been collected, using commercial extracts of 14 common genera of fungi. Of the genera to which patients reacted most commonly, six were extremely prevalent in house dust, and/or in outdoor air.Working with the help of a full-time grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.