PMID- 28254266
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20171127
LR  - 20180126
IS  - 1618-131X (Electronic)
IS  - 1438-4639 (Linking)
VI  - 220
IP  - 4
DP  - 2017 Jun
TI  - Ocular symptoms and tear film break up time (BUT) among junior high school 
      students in Penang, Malaysia - Associations with fungal DNA in school dust.
PG  - 697-703
LID - S1438-4639(16)30587-9 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.01.016 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are few studies on ocular effects of indoor mould exposure in 
      schools, especially in the tropics OBJECTIVE: To study associations between eye 
      symptoms and tear film break up time (BUT) in students and demographic data and 
      fungal DNA in schools. METHODS: A school environment study was performed among 
      randomly selected students in eight randomly selected secondary schools in 
      Penang, Malaysia. Information on eye symptoms and demographic data was collected 
      by a standardised questionnaire. BUT was measured by two methods, self-reported 
      BUT (SBUT) and by the non-invasive Tearscope (NIBUT). Dust was collected by 
      vacuuming in 32 classrooms and analysed for five fungal DNA sequences. Geometric 
      mean (GM) for total fungal DNA was 7.31*10(4) target copies per gram dust and for 
      Aspergillus/Penicillium DNA 3.34*10(4) target copies per gram dust. Linear mixed 
      models and 3-level multiple logistic regression were applied adjusting for 
      demographic factors. RESULTS: A total of 368 students (58%) participated and 
      17.4% reported weekly eye symptoms the last 3 months. The median SBUT and TBUT 
      were 15 and 12s, respectively. Students wearing glasses (OR 2.41, p=0.01) and 
      with a history of atopy (OR=2.67; p=0.008) had more eye symptoms. Girls had less 
      eye symptoms than boys (OR=0.34; p=0.006) Indoor carbon dioxide in the classrooms 
      was low (range 380-720ppm), temperature was 25-30 degrees C and relative air humidity 
      70-88%. Total fungal DNA in vacuumed dust was associated with shorter SBUT (4s 
      shorter per 10(5) target copies per gram dust; p=0.04) and NIBUT (4s shorter per 
      10(5) target copies per gram dust; p<0.001). Aspergillus/Penicillium DNA was 
      associated with shorter NIBUT (5s shorter per 10(5) target copies per gram dust; 
      p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Fungal contamination in schools in a tropical country can be 
      a risk factor for impaired tear film stability among students.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
FAU - Norback, Dan
AU  - Norback D
AD  - Uppsala University, Department of Medical Science, Occupational and Environmental 
      Medicine, University Hospital, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: 
      dan.norback@medsci.uu.se.
FAU - Hashim, Jamal Hisham
AU  - Hashim JH
AD  - United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health, 56000 Kuala 
      Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Community Health, National University of 
      Malaysia, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
FAU - Hashim, Zailina
AU  - Hashim Z
AD  - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and 
      Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, 
      Malaysia.
FAU - Sooria, Vinoshini
AU  - Sooria V
AD  - Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 
      Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
FAU - Ismail, Syazwan Aizat
AU  - Ismail SA
AD  - Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 
      Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Environmental 
      Health, Allied Health Science College Sg Buloh, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 
      47000 Sungai Buloh; Selangor, Malaysia.
FAU - Wieslander, Gunilla
AU  - Wieslander G
AD  - Uppsala University, Department of Medical Science, Occupational and Environmental 
      Medicine, University Hospital, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20170222
PL  - Germany
TA  - Int J Hyg Environ Health
JT  - International journal of hygiene and environmental health
JID - 100898843
RN  - 0 (DNA, Fungal)
RN  - 0 (Dust)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Air Pollution, Indoor/*analysis
MH  - Aspergillus/genetics
MH  - DNA, Fungal/*analysis
MH  - Dust/*analysis
MH  - Eye Diseases/diagnosis/epidemiology/*etiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Malaysia/epidemiology
MH  - Male
MH  - Penicillium/genetics
MH  - Schools
MH  - Students
MH  - *Tears
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Eye symptoms
OT  - Fungal DNA
OT  - Mould
OT  - School environment
OT  - Tear film break up time (BUT)
EDAT- 2017/03/04 06:00
MHDA- 2017/11/29 06:00
CRDT- 2017/03/04 06:00
PHST- 2016/12/07 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2017/01/29 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2017/01/30 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2017/03/04 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2017/11/29 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2017/03/04 06:00 [entrez]
AID - S1438-4639(16)30587-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.01.016 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2017 Jun;220(4):697-703. doi: 
      10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.01.016. Epub 2017 Feb 22.