Fungus and mycotoxins studies in hospital environment: A scoping review (original) (raw)

Building and Environment, 2021

Abstract

Abstract Poor indoor air quality triggered by microbiological mycotoxins is potentially harmful to human health. Patients and healthcare workers in hospital environment are vulnerable to these contaminants. This review aims to identify related studies and profiles various fungi species and mycotoxins present in a hospital environment. This review adopted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to integrate the results of included studies. The identification process involves original English-language articles published from year 2000 to first quarter 2019. Articles were retrieved using two databases (Google Scholar and PubMed) and selected keywords used to describe this subject matter. All search and review processes were performed on the MS Excel Spreadsheet tool. Six stages in the methodological framework were used as an approach to ensure all relevant studies were covered in the present scoping review. 62 articles were selected to best describe indoor air quality of a hospital environment. Countries in Asia contributed the highest compared to elsewhere. This review identified mycotoxins produced by fungi species in three articles. Common fungi genera identified were Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Penicillium. Most of the fungi species were found in the hospital general area (18.3%) and in wards (16.8%). Other locations in descending order were others department, emergency department, ICU, labour room, operating theatre, NICU and laboratory. The last two decades, numerous articles on hospital indoor air quality studied in Asia and the Middle East countries. More research should be conducted on Malaysian hospitals focusing specifically on fungus producing mycotoxins in its indoor environment.

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