Abstract
THE role of air-borne mould spores in asthma, especially Alternaria and Cladosporium, has been recognized as the result of the work of Feinberg1 and Durham2. These workers used mainly the gravity slide and Petri dish exposure method to determine the spore content of the air. Both methods are highly selective for different reasons : the former catches larger pollen grains and spores and rarely catches small spores, while the latter only records organisms able to grow on the culture media exposed and therefore selects the more readily growing moulds. Feinberg1 has stated that basidiospores cause respiratory tract allergy, but data on their occurrence in the atmosphere have been lacking, no doubt because they are not detected by the usual methods.
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References
Feinberg, S. M., “Allergy in Practice”, 2nd edit. (Chicago. 1946).
Durham, O. C., “Aerobiology”, Pub. of the Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., No. 17, 32 (1942).
Hirst, J. M., Ann. App. Biol., 39, 257 (1952).
May, K. R., J. Sci. Instr., 22, 187 (1945).
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GREGORY, P., HIRST, J. Possible Role of Basidiospores as Air-borne Allergens. Nature 170, 414 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/170414a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/170414a0
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