Table 2. Associations of early-life fungi with any wheeze by age one.
Analyses evaluate associations of each fungal genus separately
| ANY WHEEZE (≥1 vs 0 episodes) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fungal genera | Full Dataset (n=407) | Subset with Outdoor Air Measures (n=316) |
|||||
| Indoor Air & Dust | Outdoor & Indoor Air & Dust |
||||||
| OR† | 95% CI | OR† | 95% CI | OR† | 95% CI | ||
| Alternaria | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 1.07 | (0.71–1.61) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 1.01 | (0.67–1.50) | 1.01 | (0.66–1.55) | 0.98 | (0.61–1.56) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 1.47* | (0.95–2.28) | 1.84* | (1.12–3.02) | 1.84* | (1.12–3.02) | |
| Cladosporium | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 1.46* | (0.97–2.21) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 0.80 | (0.59–1.08) | 1.04 | (0.71–1.52) | 0.80 | (0.50–1.29) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 1.28* | (1.08–1.52) | 1.40* | (1.14–1.73) | 1.43* | (1.16–1.77) | |
| Aspergillus | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 1.07 | (0.73–1.58) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 1.03 | (0.69–1.54) | 0.97 | (0.62–1.53) | 0.96 | (0.60–1.52) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 1.03 | (0.87–1.23) | 1.04 | (0.86–1.26) | 1.04 | (0.86–1.26) | |
| Penicillium | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 0.91 | (0.50–1.65) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 1.05 | (0.82–1.33) | 1.15 | (0.87–1.52) | 1.17 | (0.87–1.56) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 1.19* | (1.02–1.39) | 1.21* | (1.02–1.44) | 1.21* | (1.01–1.43) | |
| Yeasts | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 0.99 | (0.66–1.49) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 1.16 | (0.85–1.57) | 1.02 | (0.71–1.45) | 1.02 | (0.70–1.49) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 0.89* | (0.78–1.03) | 0.85* | (0.72–0.99) | 0.85* | (0.72–0.99) | |
| Total | |||||||
| Outdoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | - | - | - | - | 1.15 | (0.84–1.56) | |
| Indoor air (ln-CFU/m3) | 1.06 | (0.77–1.45) | 1.25 | (0.84–1.86) | 1.13 | (0.72–1.79) | |
| Bedroom floor dust (ln-CFU/g) | 1.07 | (0.82–1.39) | 1.04 | (0.77–1.41) | 1.05 | (0.77–1.42) | |
Abbreviations: OR=odds ratio; CI=confidence interval.
†
Odds ratio for an inter-quartile increase in the ln-transformed fungal concentration: exceptions; inter-quartile range for indoor airborne Aureobasidium & dustborne Zygomycetes=0.0 CFU/m3; neither Aureobasidium nor Zygomycetes were predictors of any wheeze by age one.
All models presented adjust for winter birth (yes/no), low birthweight quartile (yes/no), maternal smoking during pregnancy (yes/no), and maternal history of physician-diagnosed asthma (yes/no).
*
p≤0.1.