Sick Building Syndrome a Crawling Killer

The damp walls are looked at as a nuisance but are not taken as a serious health hazard. The recent report published by WHO will take away sleep of many who are facing the damp wall and leakage problem.

The report describes Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is such a medical condition in which a person using such premises suffer from illness of feeling unwell for no obvious reason. SBS symptoms may show severity depending upon the time spent in the building and may disappear after leaving the premises. The shadowing influence of the various toxins contacted may linger on for long time. A continuous contact with the infected environment may lead to serious illnesses over the period.

The occupants complain of the symptoms such as Eye, nose or throat irritation, Dry cough, Nausea, Headache, Loss of Concentration, Fatigue, Dry or itchy skin, Sensitivity to odours, Repeated attacks of asthma, Asthmatic symptoms in non-asthmatic person, Bronchitis or Pneumonia which do not respond to normal antibiotic treatment, Depression, Chronic Dysentery and many more. The list stretches to about 50 known symptoms by now. The immediate consequence is loss of productivity, loss of interest in the happenings around and if remedial steps are not taken in time then the eventualities could be the hosting of dreaded diseases and horrible sufferings.

The presence of water in the walls is a lifeline for the large number of colonies of molds, bacteria, pathogen, fungi etc. Some of them are Stachybotrys chartarum, Stachybotrys atra (greenish-black mold), Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus clvatus, Ascomyceteous (Penicillium). Some of these are highly aerobic. Some fungi grow on carbon-rich substrate like wooden frame and cause opportunistic infections like onychomycosis (in nail) and keratomycosis (in cornea). The resistance to the infections differ from person to person however one with weakened immune system for any reason is an easy victim. More of search on the subject shows that the diseases caused by these microbes are much more fearful than the names that they bear. It is possible that the in depth investigation for the causes for many of the serious sicknesses may end up on the damp walls.

The best way to guard against these deadly creatures is to keep the walls dry. One should go to the source of the leakage and carry out the treatment accordingly to eradicate the dirty filthy wet patches. These are the places where the microbes thrive, multiply and release the toxic compounds which make way in human system and cause the damages. There can be various ways to stop leakages and all the methods need not necessarily be the costly. At any time the amount spent on the maintaining building will be much lesser and bearable than spent on the treatment of a horrifying disease. Is it not the high time that we give due consideration for up keeping of the building from inside and outside, in which we live or work?