ACTINOMYCETES IN MOIST HOUSES, THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF RHEUMATOID SYMPTOMS?

摘要

Inhabitants of mouldy houses very often have respiratory complaints. Additionally, rheumatoid symptoms can be observed in some cases. The symptoms are almost reversible after disposing of the microbial damage or after moving out of the building. In these cases actinomycetes were detected in building materials. The following is a report of a case of a woman and her father who had moved to a newly built house. After a few months both acquired respiratory problems. The daughter also complained of headaches, severe rheumatoid symptoms and skin problems. In the building material and house dust we detected fungi and different actinomycetes. By a polyphasic taxonomic approach using morphological, chemotaxonomical and molecular biological methods, one group of the actinomycete isolates could be identified as members of the species Nocardia carnea, whereas the other isolates belong to new species of the genus Nocardiopsis and Promicromonospora respectively.