Pulmonary hemosiderosis is a rare lung disorder which has been linked to toxic mold exposure. The condition causes bleeding in the lungs. If an infant or child coughs blood, has nose bleeds without any injury, or chronic cough and chest congestion they may have pulmonary hemosiderosis.

In widely publicized incidents, many infants under 6 months old, in neighborhoods of Cleveland, Ohio, began coughing up blood due to bleeding in their lungs. Several of the infants died and more infants others were seriously ill. It was determined the cause was Pulmonary Hemorrhage. Researchers could find no obviously explanation for an outbreak of this rare lung disorder. They concluded that it was caused by something in their home environments: toxins produced by Stachybotrys.

There were 45 cases of pulmonary hemorrhage (PH) in young infants documented over a seven year period in the Cleveland, Ohio. Sixteen of the infants died due to the disease The cases all occurred within ten contiguous zip codes area in the eastern portion of the metropolitan area. This clustering of a rare disease prompted The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to lead an investigation.

This study concluded that an epidemiological association existed between the pulmonary hemorrhage in the infants and water-damaged homes containing the toxic mold, predominantly Stachybotrys.

The CDC collected evidence linking the disease to the fungus Stachybotrys.The mold which is uncommon was discovered in large quantity in all the homes of the infants with PH. Most of the homes provided ideal growing conditions for stachybotrys, which needs water soaked cellulose to thrive. The condition of the homes (in poorer neighborhoods) evidenced water damage from flooding, plumbing leaks or roof leaks involving wood or paper products. Upon analysis the spores the molds found in the homes contained a very potent mycotoxin. These mycotoxins appeared to be particularly toxic to the growing lungs of young infants. Despite this study the connection between Stachybotrys to PH in infants is still unclear.

More infant PH cases continue to appear, fortunately many infants have had only very subtle initial symptoms such as nose bleeds and chest congestion. However, the CDC believed that there were a larger number of undetected young infants with this disorder, and examined of all infant coroner cases over a three year period. The researchers then located seven "SIDS" (sudden infant death syndrome) cases with evidence of preexisting bleeding in the lungs. Six of the seven infants had lived in the ten zip code cluster area.

This disease and dangers of mold are probably greater than believed and a national survey of pediatric pulmonary centers and further reporting has discovered an additional 100 cases of pulmonary bleeding in infants across the country in recent years.

 

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