Special notice: Take Care with your Christmas Tree to Avoid Aspergillus

It is worth reminding everyone at this time of year of a study published in 2007 on the amount of mould spores brought into the home by people who purchase freshly cut Christmas trees to decorate for the holiday period. There is no problem for a few days but as the tree starts to die and deteriorate it was shown to be responsible for the production of many thousands of spores - it is after all slowly dying plant tissue which forms the main course of any Aspergillus meal.

If you must have a cut tree and you are sensitive to Aspergillus or other moulds, or perhaps you are immunocompromised and vulnerable to infection then ensure your tree is freshly cut, install it a few days before Christmas and remove it after Boxing Day! more...