[Medical clinical diagnostics for indoor mould exposure - Update 2023 (AWMF Register No. 161/001)].

Abstract in brief

• Indoor mould exposure is recognized as a potential health risk, particularly causing allergic respiratory conditions like allergic rhinitis, asthma, and certain fungal infections, but a direct causal link between mold and many diseases hasn't been definitively proven due to fungi's widespread presence and diagnostic challenges.
• While some health effects are reliably connected to moisture damage and mould, such as allergic rhinitis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, evidence for other conditions like invasive aspergillosis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis is less clear.
• Overall, moulds have a lower capacity to cause allergic sensitization compared to other environmental allergens, with recent European studies showing a relatively low prevalence of mold sensitization in the general population.