Editing Conidium (section)

==Health issues==
Conidia are always present in the air, but levels fluctuate from day to day and with the seasons. An average person inhales at least 40 conidia per hour.<ref>Humans inhale ~10<sup>3</sup> to 10<sup>10</sup> mold conidia (i.e., vegetative spores) daily. - {{cite journal |last1=Shlezinger |first1=Neta |last2=Irmer |first2=Henriette |last3=Dhingra |first3=Sourabh |last4=Beattie |first4=Sarah R. |last5=Cramer |first5=Robert A. |last6=Braus |first6=Gerhard H. |last7=Sharon |first7=Amir |last8=Hohl |first8=Tobias M. |title=Sterilizing immunity in the lung relies on targeting fungal apoptosis-like programmed cell death |journal=Science |date=8 Sep 2017 |volume=357 |issue=6355 |pages=1037–1041 |doi=10.1126/science.aan0365|pmid=28883073 |pmc=5628051 |bibcode=2017Sci...357.1037S |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Exposure to conidia from certain species, such as those of ''[[Cryptostroma corticale]]'', is known to cause [[hypersensitivity pneumonitis]], an occupational hazard for forest workers and paper mill employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://forestpathology.org/canker/sooty-bark-maple/|title=Sooty-Bark Disease of Maple|website=Forest Pathology|last=Worrall|first=James J.|year=2023|access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Braun|first1=Markus|last2=Klingelhöfer|first2=Doris|last3=Groneberg|first3=David A.|title=Sooty bark disease of maples: the risk for hypersensitivity pneumonitis by fungal spores not only for woodman|journal=Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology|volume=16|year=2021|issue=1 |page=2 |id=2|doi=10.1186/s12995-021-00292-5|pmid=33478566 |pmc=7819180 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Conidia are often the method by which some normally harmless but heat-tolerating (thermotolerant), common fungi establish infection in certain types of severely [[immunocompromised]] patients (usually acute [[leukemia]] patients on induction chemotherapy, [[AIDS]] patients with superimposed B-cell lymphoma, [[bone marrow transplantation]] patients (taking immunosuppressants), or major organ transplant patients with [[graft versus host disease]]). Their immune system is not strong enough to fight off the fungus, and it may, for example, colonise the lung, resulting in a [[pulmonary]] infection.<ref>Of particular concern is the high rate of mortality associated with invasive fungal infections, which often exceeds 50% despite the availability of several antifungal drugs. - {{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon D. |last2=Denning |first2=David W. |last3=Gow |first3=Neil A. R. |last4=Levitz |first4=Stuart M. |last5=Netea |first5=Mihai G. |last6=White |first6=Theodore C. |title=Hidden Killers: Human Fungal Infections |journal=Sci Transl Med |date=19 December 2012 |volume=4 |issue=165 165rv13 |pages=165rv13 |doi=10.1126/scitranslmed.3004404|pmid=23253612 |s2cid=3157271 }}</ref> Especially with species of the ''Aspergillus'' genus, germination in the respiratory tract can lead to aspergillosis, which is quite common, can vary in severity, and has shown signs of developing new risk groups and antifungal drug resistance. <ref name=":0" />