In thousands of homes and on social media posts across the land, you saw the annual notice heralding the end of summer vacation: “Summer is over and the kids are back in school”. Some will cry, some will cheer, some will only shrug their shoulders. No matter what we do or say, every school year, the emotion, and the back to school sales come to an end and attention shifts to the students actually being in school.
That is “all as it should be” with each new school year. The sad news is that the “welcome back student” message has been accompanied with too many news stories about mold being found in our nation’s schools. It is not an accident that “National Mold Awareness Month” is September.
The bottom line on this is that parents DO NOT want their child sick because they go to school. Our schools that have mold are like the “Jaws” movies. Just when you think it is safe to return, we find out that it is “not so safe.”
When we experience any school environmental issue such as mold, it can be front page headlines, TV, talk show fodder and Facebook news feed material.
Environmental issues in schools are not “just another student health issue”. These problems are a public relations nightmare, a staff human relations mine field, a facility management challenge, a budget buster, a political fiasco and a liability time bomb.
Signs of Mold in School
If a school is flooded or has leaks that are not quickly cleaned up, there will be mold. Whether it is a roof leak, plumbing leak or any other area of wet surfaces, you can count on mold growing.
Parents should take a look around their child’s school. Water stains are the target to look for. Fuzzy or splotchy areas are the bullseye in the search for suspected mold. These can be in almost any area of a building anywhere from the highest ceiling to the lowest floor.
In addition to the visual indicators of mold presence, odor can be indicator. When the odor of mold is in the school or on a child’s clothes, books, papers or possessions, mold should be investigated as a source of the offensive smell.
Sewage backups, leaks and all floods also have a host of water borne diseases and contaminants. When these occur, a professionally conducted disinfection must be conducted even when mold is not visible. Even a little dust left in an obscure corner after the flood is gone can enter through a cut in a student’s hand or their lungs long after the water is gone if the areas has not been disinfected.
Mold is a potentially lethal risk for organ transplant patients that is largely ignored.
The residences that patients return home to after their organ transplant are almost never checked for mold. Let's face it. .....transplant patients are usually very sick before the life saving surgery. Home maintenance, roof leaks, plumbing leaks, and basement issues are not a high priority when the life of a family member is at stake. Even when these problems are noticed, the money it takes to have repairs is often in very short supply and life and death medical costs come first!
Organ transplant patients have new opportunities for a healthy and full life. However, the anti-rejection medication that helps accept new organs by lowering the body’s immune system response also creates a very high risk for fungal infections caused by mold exposures.
Hospitals are on "high alert" to create a "mold free environment". On failure to maintain that environment in UPMC Pittsburgh resulted a temporary shutdown of world class and renowned transplant center.
The CDC states "Fungal infections may be more common in certain types of transplants. Some experts think that fungal infections may be most common in small bowel transplant patients, followed by lung, liver, and heart transplant patients."
Mold at very low levels or in hidden areas are a huge risk for patients. Whether it is returning home after an organ transplant or moving into a new or temporary home after the transplant, having a professional familiar with medical grade evaluations for mold are an important part of successful outcomes.
For more information on protecting patients from mold after an Organ Transplant, go to our article with many links to supporting information at https://www.envirospect.com/OrganTransplant