Allergies Have You Stuffed Up? Nose Fungi May Be to Blame
TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2024 -- There’s fungus among us, and it might be making allergies and asthma worse.
People with allergy sniffles and asthma have different fungal colonies in their noses than folks who don’t suffer respiratory allergies, researchers report Dec. 16 in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
“We showed that allergic rhinitis samples displayed a significantly higher fungal diversity and a different fungal community structure compared to those of healthy controls,” said researcher Dr. Luís Delgado with the University of Porto in Portugal.
For the study, researchers took nasal swabs from 214 children and young adults being treated at an immunology and asthma clinic in Porto.
Researchers sequenced the fungal DNA they found, and compared it to samples taken from 125 healthy people.
They detected common fungi that are known to promote allergies or disease in humans.
“This suggests that the nasal cavity is a major reservoir for fungi that could be involved in allergic rhinitis and asthma,” Delgado said in a journal news release.
What’s more, patients with respiratory diseases had more diverse and richer fungal colonies in their nose, particularly those with allergies and asthma combined.
This could indicate that the fungi are affecting the immune environment in the nose.
“However, we could not control all patient-specific variables, such as disease severity and related treatment levels, and patients were sampled at a single time,” Delgado cautioned.
Follow-up studies will focus on those variables, he said.
Future research could also see if lowering fungal levels in the nose might improve allergy or asthma symptoms.
Sources
- Frontiers, news release, Dec. 17, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
What to Know About Anaphylaxis: Symptoms, Triggers & Treatment
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 — When people hear about anaphylaxis, they often associate the severe allergic reaction with food allergies. And while food allergies can cause...
How To Help Your Back-To-School Kid With Their Allergies
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 — Back-to-school is an exciting time for kids and parents, but it also marks the beginning of fall allergies as well as the cold and flu season. So...
Taylor Fresh Foods Issues Recall of Salad Kits Sold at Kroger, Walmart
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3, 2025 — Taylor Fresh Foods has issued a voluntary recall of its Honey Balsamic Salad Kit after discovering the dressing packets contained undeclared...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.