NIH: Chronic Sinusitis Sufferers
Have Enhanced Immune Responses to Fungi

Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reported in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology recently that people with chronic sinus inflammation have an exaggerated immune response to common airborne fungi.

Marshall Plaut, M.D., chief of NIAID's allergic mechanisms section, said in announcing the report, "[t]his study is the first to show a possible immunologic basis for chronic sinusitis, an important starting point to better understand the etiology of the illness."

Plaut said that despite the enormous health impact of chronic sinusitis, the condition is very poorly understood. The U.S. Centers for Disease …