Opportunistic Pathogenic Fungi of the House Dust in Turubah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Xerophilic-, yeast-, thermophilic-, thermotolerant and keratinophilic fungi were isolated from house dust of Turubah, Taif, kSA. Thirty six samples were collected during November, 2009. Using the appropriate medium for each fungal group, 371x103 CFU were recovered belonging to forty two taxa, in addition to five taxa of keratinophilic fungi. The most abundant molds are Aspergillus flavus, A. penicilloides, A. repens, Penicilium glabrum, Mucor racemosus. Aspergillus fumigatus, Rhizomucor pusillus, Thermomyces lanuginosus and Thermophymatospora fibuligera are the most thermotolerant and thermophilic molds. The most frequent yeast fungi are Candida albicans, Trichosporon cutaneum and Exophiala spinifera. Three geophilic dermatophytes namely; Trichophyton terrestre, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis and S. candida were isolated by human hair baiting technique. Many of the identified fungi are toxigenic, opportunistic pathogenic, pathogenic and/or antigenic. Regular cleaning of indoor environment is a must