new to this..fatal fungal sinusitis case close to a yeast factory. Any advice is appreciated!

Ok, here is the story, one of the teachers at our school in a tiny town of less than 2000 died this week unexpectedly. She was in the late 30 early 40 range. She was suffering from sinus problems for a couple of years and had surgery to clear the sinus passageways. Her autopsy showed that it was a fungal infection that killed her suddenly in her sleep. I searched on line for some info and I still don't know how to upload quotes and links, but the most common fatal fungus is bread mold. There is a yeast factory in our small town and we always smell the stink of it.

I know there are a lot of scientists here and wonder if anyone could help me clear my head about this. With sinus problems, could living and working in close proximity to a yeast factory, be potentially fatal? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

for the record: I am not in anyway trying to gather facts for any legal means. I am just concerned for family and other members of my community.

Any ideas are welcome. Thank you!

you might want to try putting something in the body of the thread

reply to post by frayedknot


OOPs! As I said, I am new to this.

Well, that's a new one.

My guess would be you're in no danger. I would presume the smell of bread baking would be the smell of dead yeast and off-gassing yeast, not so much the yeast itself. Working inside the bakery might be a slightly less cut-and-dried deal though.

You can search for something along the lines of 'occupational diseases of bakers' but I've never heard of anything.

Everytime you're in the shower, blow your nose out carefully while you're standing there in the steam; it helps keep the sinuses clear.

There's yeast in the air we breathe anywhere, whatever this woman died of it was a very odd and rare reaction to a normally occurring environmental substance.

Edited to add that since we don't know that the fungus infection she had was bread yeast-based, you're in far less danger; some fungi are highly dangerous, but common bread yeast isn't one of them.

reply to post by signalfire


OP didn't say it was a bakery though...they said it was a yeast factory...

Yeast infections are a common human malady...I'd say it's possible...

reply to post by coldkidc


You're right, thanks. I took 'yeast factory' to be some kind of slang for a bakery.

Still, you'd have to have an awfully malfunctioning immune system to fall prey to a yeast infection.

Been fighting sinus infection for years. Fortunately they tested me for this and it was negative. Very frightening non the less.

This is a homeopathic remedy that my naturopath told me to get in case it was a fungal infection. It is supposed to be great for yeast overgrowth and such. Can't vouch for it but it might be worth a try.

How sad that a woman died so young.

Highly unlikely that the yeast from the factory caused her infection. The kind of yeast that cause infections in humans are a different sort, not related. Usually it is candida albicans and the yeast that is used in breadmaking and brewing is saccharomyces cerevisiae. She could have died from aspergiliosis, this is an infection with a mould in the aspergillus family which can kill people who have a compromised immune system. Bread mould and bread yeast are two very different things. There are a few different bread moulds, commonly they are neurospora crassa, penecillium species and I cant remember the third, you can look it up. If you can find out the name of the thing that killed her I might be able to do some research on it and might be able to understand the info enough to explain it a bit.

Having said all the above, there is a possibility that the constant exposure to the volatile compounds that are emitted at the factory sensitized her to similar compounds emitted by moulds. This could have lead to allergic reactions to mould, which are often accompanied by a runny nose and irritation of the mucosal membranes, which could have lead to the sinus infections which could have lead to the surgery being necessary which could have made her sinuses more susceptible to infection by moulds. But in my experience none of this will comfort her family and friends. When people ask "why" they usually dont want the answer, they are expressing grief and need comfort.

reply to post by Cinrad


Thank you for that info. That helped clear up some unfounded suspicions.

And you are right about grief. It was a bit of a shock and some of her students are taking it particularly hard.

I would recommend you take vitamin c everyday, it helps fight things like this

Sinusitis is a real problem nowadays. I faced such a problem and Thanks God I cured it. Mostly all the information about how to treat sinusitis I found on this web site:
stop-sinusitis.net...
Hope it will be useful for you.

There are sinus flushes on the market you can get. I use a bottle that I get at the grocery store. Talk to your doc about it, or see what you can find locally. It really helped me conquer a chronic problem.

My son is actually fighting a common yeast right now that took advantage of a weakened system a few years ago. We are fighting it with diet and medication because of the severe overgrowth. The diet alone is often used to fight yeast overgrowth within your system, it's called the candida diet.

www.thecandidadiet.com...

www.naturalhealthanswers.com...

From a month of experience now, I would have to say it is helping. We are also using a prescription for my oldest son, but even my youngest is showing signs of improved behavior and higher energy levels. Haha, more energy is not always the best thing for an active four year old though! I'm also feeling better, but I have to admit to cheating a bit. I already had to give up beer when I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I haven't quite given up my occasional angry orchard. Only my husband hasn't showed much difference, but he still has pizza or a cheeseburger on occasion for lunch, so he's not really following it enough.

These are simply my personal experiences, and what is working for my family. We are also under direct supervision of a Naturopath. I wish you the best of luck! Do take your health seriously, it's amazing what can become a serious problem any more. Listen to your body, and find a good doc.

a reply to: woodsmom

If you are not opposed to taking pharmaceuticals, you could try nystatin tablets. The change in diet will work but takes a long time to get over it like that. The nystatin will kill it and the change in diet will stop it from coming back. As the body gets back in to balance you will be able to re-introduce carbs and other fungal byproducts.

The candida diet is really severe, it cuts out everything that has any link to fungus, not all of these things will be a problem to you and your son. The idea is to stick at it for a couple of months and then re-introduce one thing ad a time like alcohol, cheese, mushrooms. Try these out for another couple of months and then if it agrees with you, you can keep them and add something else back.

But it is a really hard thing to get under control because candida will always be in your body and it is about keeping it in balance, and what will not affect you now may affect you when you add the influence of a change in season or something.

A tip for you, as you are going in to your winter, especially if you get condensation on the inside of your windows at night, give the window sill a good clean at least once a week. And if you have metal windows that slide, give the tracks a good clean with an old rag and a skewer, or chopstick. A weak bleach solution works well. But do it with a mask on, or some airflow through the room and out the window because you will disturb a lot of mold spores.

a reply to: Cinrad

I'm not completely opposed to pharmaceuticals when necessary. The lab that found the yeast (not candida) also tested it against nine medications and reported which was the effective one. We have been using that in conjunction with the diet due to the severity of the infection. He's already showing signs of rapid improvement, and we are only half way through.

This diet has been an insane pain in the rear, yes. It feels good to say that too, and he can't hear me haha. Since it is a different yeast then candida and we are treating it with a strong medication he is allowed unlimited whole grains and full fat dairy. This particular strain doesn't eat lactose. Those two factors have opened up my possibilities quite a bit. I may have even figured out a Christmas cookie for them. We are going to ease back out of the diet slowly, and quite honestly continue some habits this has instilled in us. We are all feeling better.

That is an awesome tip! So many people don't even think about window sills! As an old housekeeper, they get regular attention. We have replaced all our windows for vinyl ones now too because they are easier to keep clean. There's always a few nooks and crannies hiding around the house though and I should go back through and double check a few places.

I appreciate your thoughts!! Thank you for your response. It's one of those things that you just don't think much of until it turns into a problem. It's been an invaluable learning experience for the whole family.