There is scarce a more trying time on one’s new home than winter. One specifically difficult area to worry about is the water pipes in your house. Obviously, during the winter, it is important to keep these pipes shielded from the freezing temperatures; otherwise, you could have a very bad situation on your hands. This is all the more difficult if you are a first time homeowner.
If the water pipes in your home are not insulated and the temperature is less than 20 degrees, they are at serious risk of freezing and then bursting. A seemingly insignificant crack of only one-eighth of an inch is enough to let 250 gallons of water leak out each day and cause significant water damage in your home. Anything in the vicinity of this water is fair game, be it clothes, furniture, children’s toys, and other things of this nature. On top of soaked items in the home, this could cause danger to your home’s foundation, as the water can cause the foundation to rot, and any metal to rust. This is, of course, excluding the mold that would most certainly follow such a massive leak. The mold is considered by many the most dangerous of these afflictions brought on by water damage, as mold can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. While insurance companies do not cover damage caused by mold, they do, however, cover water damage to an extent.
It is important to know how to protect your home from these bursts. And one of the very first things to be done is to cover all indoor water pipes with insulation. You should make sure that warm air is capable of reaching your pipes during a deep freeze. This can be done by simply putting a space heater in the room with the pipes and opening the cabinets. But, be careful with those space heaters. If you leave them unattended for a long period of time, there is a chance for fire. And definitely do not keep them near anything easily flammable. And it’s also important that you don’t used extension cords, as there is an increased risk for fire, and a fire is worse than burst pipes.
You should check your house for any cracks that water could leak into, because when the water freezes, it will expand and cause further damage. You should also be sure that you disconnect garden hoses and keep a small portion of water running through hot and cold water faucets.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.moldrestorationny.info
http://www.moldrestorationnj.info
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Penicilliosis
While Penicillin is a drug manufactured from mold and is used around the world to help fight infections, there are other kinds of penicillium molds that can cause disease. A species of penicillium that is native to Southeast Asia, has been known to cause infections in the region where HIV and AIDs have become epidemic and the condition resulting from these infections has been named Penicilliosis.
Penicilliosis is a kind of infection that is caused by the mold Penicillium marneffei and studies show that it currently the third most occurring opportunistic infection in individuals infected with HIV and AIDS in Southeast Asia. This fungus occurs in high numbers throughout the region and is generally restricted to the area.
As with all molds, it is a fungus at room temperature, but when it makes its way into the body and is heated up to body temperature, it becomes a yeast. The symptoms of such an infection can include skin lesions, generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, anemia, and fever; abdominal pain has also been noted along with weight loss. Sometimes the skin lesions can appear on the ears, fingers, toes, genitalia, and on the face. Cases of pneumonia have been reported to occur, as well. The most often occurring symptom of penicilliosis is a skin rash that forms small bumps on the surface of the skin and they often have ulceration and this commonly happens on the upper part of the body.
While the mold that causes this condition is endemic to Southeast Asia, anyone traveling to the region is at risk to become infected; however, it rarely occurs in individuals who do not have a weakened immune system. Anyone who has HIV or AIDS is advised to either be extremely careful if traveling to the region or to not travel to the region at all.
Without treatment, these infections have quite a high mortality rate and even with treatment, the mortality rate hovers at around twenty percent. Before AIDS became an epidemic, cases of this mold causing any kind of infection were rare.
Biopses of lymph nodes, bone marrow, and skin lesions can detect the presence of the fungi. The fungal cultures that are grown from the swabbing of skin lesions or other samples taken from a person’s body are characterized by a flat green surface and a deep red color underneath. Antifungal therapy with amphotericin, followed by maintenance treatment with a drug called itraconazole is recommended.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.moldrestorationny.info
http://www.moldrestorationnj.info
Penicilliosis is a kind of infection that is caused by the mold Penicillium marneffei and studies show that it currently the third most occurring opportunistic infection in individuals infected with HIV and AIDS in Southeast Asia. This fungus occurs in high numbers throughout the region and is generally restricted to the area.
As with all molds, it is a fungus at room temperature, but when it makes its way into the body and is heated up to body temperature, it becomes a yeast. The symptoms of such an infection can include skin lesions, generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, anemia, and fever; abdominal pain has also been noted along with weight loss. Sometimes the skin lesions can appear on the ears, fingers, toes, genitalia, and on the face. Cases of pneumonia have been reported to occur, as well. The most often occurring symptom of penicilliosis is a skin rash that forms small bumps on the surface of the skin and they often have ulceration and this commonly happens on the upper part of the body.
While the mold that causes this condition is endemic to Southeast Asia, anyone traveling to the region is at risk to become infected; however, it rarely occurs in individuals who do not have a weakened immune system. Anyone who has HIV or AIDS is advised to either be extremely careful if traveling to the region or to not travel to the region at all.
Without treatment, these infections have quite a high mortality rate and even with treatment, the mortality rate hovers at around twenty percent. Before AIDS became an epidemic, cases of this mold causing any kind of infection were rare.
Biopses of lymph nodes, bone marrow, and skin lesions can detect the presence of the fungi. The fungal cultures that are grown from the swabbing of skin lesions or other samples taken from a person’s body are characterized by a flat green surface and a deep red color underneath. Antifungal therapy with amphotericin, followed by maintenance treatment with a drug called itraconazole is recommended.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.moldrestorationny.info
http://www.moldrestorationnj.info
Mold in the Bible
Insurance adjusters are terribly fond of telling people that mold has been around long before human beings walked the earth and that it is not as big of a deal as the modern day medical community is making it out to be, however what many of these people don’t know (or are banking that their clients don’t know) is that mold has been a problem ever since Biblical times and probably before.
The book of Leviticus speaks of a mold contaminated home in chapter 14:39-47. A priest was said to remove the stones in the home that were contaminated with mold and they were to be taken to a place outside of town that was used to dump things that were considered “unclean”. If the mold (or mildew) came back after all these stones were removed, then the entire house was to be torn down. It was considered to be a defiled place to live in and that also any clothing that was contaminated with it was to be shown to the priest and thrown away, as well.
The eighth plague of Egypt, the locusts, would have caused the Egyptians to collect as many crops from the field as possible and store them underground (where it is moist and dark). It is speculated that the reason for the deaths of the first born children of Egypt was mold that contaminated the crops and when fed to children, would cause disease and if enough was ingested, death. The Bible says that the eldest child received double portions of food in those times and a theory says that this is the reason that the firstborn alone died: he/she was the only child who had eaten enough of the mold for it to be fatal. Stachybotrys atra, along with other kinds of mold, releases mycotoxins and if this was present in the grain that the Egyptians stored underground after the plague of locusts, then anyone who consumed it would have become ill. It is said that the Jews living in Egypt at the time would have been eating herbs, unleavened bread, and lamb, which are supposedly safe from being contaminated by this mold.
So, if your insurance adjuster claims that mold was not a problem years ago and that mold has been around longer than we have, take a Bible and show him the book of Leviticus. Even if he’s not religious, seeing mold talked about in a text over 2,000 years old should be enough to take back his statements.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
New York mold remediation companies across the united states.
The book of Leviticus speaks of a mold contaminated home in chapter 14:39-47. A priest was said to remove the stones in the home that were contaminated with mold and they were to be taken to a place outside of town that was used to dump things that were considered “unclean”. If the mold (or mildew) came back after all these stones were removed, then the entire house was to be torn down. It was considered to be a defiled place to live in and that also any clothing that was contaminated with it was to be shown to the priest and thrown away, as well.
The eighth plague of Egypt, the locusts, would have caused the Egyptians to collect as many crops from the field as possible and store them underground (where it is moist and dark). It is speculated that the reason for the deaths of the first born children of Egypt was mold that contaminated the crops and when fed to children, would cause disease and if enough was ingested, death. The Bible says that the eldest child received double portions of food in those times and a theory says that this is the reason that the firstborn alone died: he/she was the only child who had eaten enough of the mold for it to be fatal. Stachybotrys atra, along with other kinds of mold, releases mycotoxins and if this was present in the grain that the Egyptians stored underground after the plague of locusts, then anyone who consumed it would have become ill. It is said that the Jews living in Egypt at the time would have been eating herbs, unleavened bread, and lamb, which are supposedly safe from being contaminated by this mold.
So, if your insurance adjuster claims that mold was not a problem years ago and that mold has been around longer than we have, take a Bible and show him the book of Leviticus. Even if he’s not religious, seeing mold talked about in a text over 2,000 years old should be enough to take back his statements.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
New York mold remediation companies across the united states.
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