Biota fúngica en fosas nasales de trabajadores de tres edificios de la universidad Santiago de Cali y su relación con síntomas de alergias respiratorias

Abstract

Allergenic fungi enter through the air to nostrils and may be responsible for some respiratory allergies. The objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between allergies diagnosed and undiagnosed according to the results obtained from the adapted survey of ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) and the fungal load of the nostrils of workers of three buildings of the Santiago de Cali University. The samples taken from the nostrils were made with sterile swabs and the subsequent sowing was done on Sabouraud dextrose agar, sunflower seed agar and Candida CHROMagar. In 100% of the workers (126) who participated in the study, allergenic fungi were isolated. The highest prevalence of allergenic fungi in the workers of the different buildings was obtained by the workers of block 1, finding significant statistical differences, for the genus Fusarium sp, (p=0,0018 Kruskal Wallis) and Penicillum sp, (p=0,0080 Kruskal Wallis), but not for Cladosporium sp, Alternaria sp and Aspergillus sp; likewise, the biggest fungal load was presented by the workers of this building. When analyzing the fungal 6load found in the nasal passages and its relation with the presence of symptoms of respiratory allergies, it was established that there was significant statistical association with the genus Fusarium sp (p=0,0430 Wilcoxon Mann Whitney) and not for Cladosporium sp (p=0,1918, Wilcoxon Mann Whitney) which was the most frequently isolated genus.