It grows everywhere and its one purpose in the natural world is to decompose dead organic matter. It is in our homes and on our lawns, on our food and on our clothes. You cannot truly do anything to completely get rid of it, but what you can do is educate yourself about what kinds of mold there are, what they can do to you, and how you can get rid of them.

There are about three different categories that a mold is classified into: pathogenic, allergenic, and toxic. The line between pathogenic molds and toxic molds is a little difficult to discern, but the allergenic mold class is not as dangerous as the other two.

Allergenic molds can either cause allergies or make allergies that a person already has even worse. It can make such things as asthma and emphysema aggravated and more difficult to deal with.

The very young and the elderly particularly have a problem with these molds, because their immune systems are not as strong as a healthy young or middle aged adult. Symptoms include typical allergy symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, skin rashes, and etcetera.

Toxic molds produce what are called mycotoxins and even though these kinds of molds are not as common as allergenic or even pathogenic molds, they are extremely dangerous. These molds can even cause the death of a person if the circumstances are extreme enough and while toxic black mold has become a common term used in the news, it is usually referring to Stachybotrys atra or some other variant of Stachybotrys.

This mold is typically found on wet items, especially on wet paper or woods. This mold has also been known to cause a baby to bleed from the lungs.

Pathogenic molds are molds that tend to cause opportunistic infections in people, such as penicilliosis, which is the third most common opportunistic infection in HIV patients in southeast Asia.

This is a serious problem and anyone with a weakened immune system is very much at risk for contracting this condition, even if you are simply traveling to the region for a few days.