General overview of fungal allergic asthma

Abstract

Asthma is a complicated disorder, whose prevalence has increased over the past few decades.<br />Asthma is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory leukocytes along with enhanced<br />proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Fungi are now far more widely being considered as the<br />dominant extrinsic trigger for asthma. Fungi are linked to the severity of asthma in many ways. Some<br />differences between studies can be partly attributed to difficulties in the standardization of mould<br />allergen extracts for skin-testing techniques. Allergy to fungi is associated with increased asthma<br />symptoms and severity, increased asthma risk, and even death. These fungi are zoonosis; pet animals<br />could be the main source of pathogenic fungi and infection and treatment of pets and periodic<br />checking with a veterinarian could help avoid fungi-allergic asthma. Attention therefore needs to be<br />paid to fungi infection in allergic reactions, especially in asthma.