Rented an Airbnb for 4 nights and 5 days. One person not feeling well on day 2. Two more got sick on day we left. Two more got sick two days later. All with headaches, swollen throats, and tight chest breathing. Can anyone help identify what kind of mold this is? Should we be worried about long term effects? One toddler was there and hasn’t gotten sick yet, what should we look for?
Hi @D&C The fungus that produces these fruiting bodies is unlikely to be the cause of the illness. Although mushroom spores in large quantities can function as an irritant, especially for folks with sensitive lungs (or folks who work in indoor mushroom farms who develop a sensitivity from processing thousands of mushrooms, etc.), this is a small number of fruiting bodies. There air everywhere in general (indoor/outdoor) is full of fungal spores of all sorts ... what would come from these four mushrooms would not appreciably add to that base quantity. In general this looks like a Lepiota-type of mushroom, in the loose sense, not sure which one, but they are usually saprobes, soil dwellers. It is not a mold: Molds don't produce mushrooms in the usual sense of that word. There may of course also be some kind of mold in the building, but evidence of that is not pictured in photo. Most indoor molds are harmless to humans (though signalling a dampness problem that is bad for the building) though a few are a problem. Noting that I am not a medical professional, symptoms sound like allergic reactions, and there are frustratingly so many possible sources for allergic reactions. Cleaning products used in the space or to launder bedclothes etc might be work looking at - not sure? But if it helps - the mushrooms in the photo are not likely to be the cause. I hope you all feel better soon, and hopefully discover the cause of this distress.
The presence of mushrooms inside the house shows that there is a definite problem with excess moisture; so there could be mold as well as mushrooms growing in the structure. However, mold often has a characteristic odor that you could have noticed.
