Pillows are a hot bed of fungal spores

By Abigail Mellier, April 20th, 2013 | Health | 0 Comments

A pillow can be a source of millions of allergy-inducing fungal spores, says a study

It has long been believed that fungal spores make a home in bedding but there hasn’t been a lot of hard evidence for this. Now a team at the University of Manchester reveals that pillows, in particular, can form a home for these spores - putting vulnerable people at risk of infection and allergy.

In the study, samples from pillows that had 1.5 to 20 years of use were analyzed. Each proved to have a substantial fungal load with four to 16 species being identified per pillow. Synthetic pillows, in particular, tended to harbor the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus which is found in damp conditions and is important in causing life-threatening infections in transplant and leukemia patients. The fungus can also worsen asthma. These findings have implications for the choice and treatment of bedding for those at risk from fungal infections.