Infection

Living in dampness increases your propensity toward infection. These infections can be wide-ranging. Exposure to mould growth increases the risk of developing fungal infections directly from breathing in spores, particularly in those with underlying lung or immunological conditions.

However, respiritory infections are the by far most common type of infectious illness faced by those living in damp conditions. For instance, meta analysis has revealed a statistically significant 40-50% increase in bronchitis and other rispiratory infections in homes with dampness and mould. In 2019, researchers in New Zealand found that almost 20% of hospital admissions of children with respiratory infections could have been prevented if their houses were free from damp and mould.

A contributing factor to this heightened risk is the weakening effect damp and mould have on your immune system. This can make people both more suseptible to catching common respiratory illnesses, and less able to ‘clear’ them efficiently.

This increased risk for rispiratory illness also relates to the high rates of asthma among those living with dampness. Respiratory infections are thought to play an important etiological role in asthma, particularly in adult-onset asthma. They are also often triggers for worsening symptom management. In reverse, having a condition like asthma, particularly if it already exaccerbated by environmental triggers, makes it more likely for someone to both catch respiritory infections, and suffer with more severe illness from them.