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An increasing number of U.S. adults and children suffer from mold-related illnesses that often go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, according to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
That needs to change, Kennedy said at a Sept. 18 “Mold Surveillance Roundtable” hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“This will be the beginning of an effort to educate the public, to educate physicians, to try to figure out what this agency should be doing … so that everybody who’s affected by this disease can get some help,” Kennedy said.
Dr. Jessica Brownstein, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who has successfully treated hundreds of patients with mold-related illness, told The Defender she was pleased that fungal disease, including invasive mold infections, is getting publicity.
“A lot of patients are frustrated that this isn’t talked about,” said Brownstein, who works in the holistic medicine clinic run by her father in the Detroit area. “There are seven practitioners in our office, and we’re all seeing a ton of mold illness.”
Most are young moms and kids, she said.
Brownstein said mold-related illness is a big problem — but there are treatment solutions. “It can be life-changing when patients get out of the mold exposure and detox.”
Using blood tests, the clinic staff can determine whether someone is creating antibodies to different types of mold.
“From there, really the next step is you have to find the exposure,” she said. “Patients cannot heal if they’re continually living in an environment or being exposed to mold mycotoxins on a daily basis.”
The next step is detoxification, Brownstein said. “We want to work on clearing up mycotoxins so that the immune system can calm down and the symptoms can ultimately go away once we remove the exposure.”
CDC: Fungal diseases account for 7,300 deaths, 30,000 hospitalizations annually
Kennedy, who said he’s wanted to address mold-related disease since his first day as HHS secretary, shared how he once lived in a mold-infected house that had to be torn down.
“Almost all of my children were affected. My wife was very, very badly affected in many ways that doctors couldn’t understand,” Kennedy said.
One of Kennedy’s sons had a chronic mold infection and saw 89 doctors before he was properly diagnosed, Kennedy said. His son now lives in Phoenix — known for its dry climate — in a house designed to combat mold.
Kennedy compared his son’s experience to the long journey depicted in Homer’s Greek epic poem, “The Odyssey.”
His son had the resources needed for his journey. But Kennedy said he worries about the many other Americans who may not have “found the solution, who are just living with brain fog and with, you know, all of the other crazy stuff that this does to you every day, and just never figuring it out and never being able to get any treatment.”
Fungal diseases account for roughly 7,300 deaths, 130,000 hospitalizations, and 13 million outpatient visits per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Invasive mold disease can have a 50%-70% mortality rate, Kennedy said.
However, all those figures likely underestimate the true impact. That’s because national surveillance systems don’t yet exist for all fungal diseases, and medical schools don’t typically teach prospective doctors how to diagnose and treat mold-related illnesses, he added.
CDC pledges money to educate doctors, patients on mold-related illness
The CDC has pledged over $1.5 million to MyCARE, a nonprofit that supports patients with fungal disease, to better educate doctors and patients on how mold and other fungi can cause illness.
“Patients and clinicians need to recognize when invasive mold disease or another severe fungal infection may be the reason that someone simply is not getting better,” CDC Director Erica Schwartz said during the Sept. 18 roundtable.
The agency is expanding clinical research on mold-related illness, including awarding $2.5 million to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Mycoses Study Group. The group focuses on understanding and treating invasive fungal infections, according to its website.
The CDC is also investing roughly $8.7 million to strengthen local and state health departments’ surveillance and lab capacity, so health departments can detect mold illnesses faster and track them more accurately.
In addition to Kennedy and Schwartz, roundtable speakers included top fungal disease scientists and researchers and patients who shared their stories of enduring fungal disease.
Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.) also spoke about the growing number of people in California and beyond who are reporting valley fever, a lung infection caused by soil fungus. Valley fever commonly “gets misdiagnosed or caught too late,” Fong said.
Rob Purdie, diagnosed in 2012 with the most severe form of valley fever, spoke of how long it took doctors to accurately diagnose his illness and find a treatment to control his symptoms.
Purdie is MyCARE’s president and a founding member. He said he was hopeful that patients like him will help increase doctors’ awareness of fungal diseases and ensure that clinical trials for new treatments effectively draw in participants.
“Patients have entered the chat, and we are not leaving and we intend to stick around until we get the results that we need and the answers that we deserve,” Purdie said.
Kennedy: We need to identify the causes of mold-related illness
Addressing the roundtable, Kennedy said, “We need to figure out” what’s behind the explosion in mold-related illness. “What is causing this and how do we prevent it?” he asked.
Biologist Christina Parks, Ph.D., told The Defender she suspects changes in people’s microbiome and immune systems may have something to do with it.
“At no time in history have the immune systems of our children been subjected to the number of vaccinations that they are now,” Parks said. “The work of Peter Aaby in Africa highlighted how the use of certain vaccines can basically mis-train the immune response in important ways.”
Parks pointed out that many modern buildings use engineered wood products, including plywood and particleboard, that can be more susceptible to mold growth than solid hardwoods commonly used in older construction.
“Some engineered wood products may absorb moisture, swell and dry more slowly, creating conditions that favor persistent mold growth,” she said.
She added:
“It’s important for parents to understand how to assess a new residence for the likelihood that it either currently contains mold or may be very likely to develop it. This includes prior water damage, geographical location and how much engineered wood product versus hardwoods are used in construction and where they are placed.”
Brownstein said she thinks it’s likely that multiple environmental toxins — such as engineered wood products and pesticides — are contributing to the uptick in mold-related illness.
“In our body, we have a bucket of toxins that we can deal with,” Brownstein said. “When it starts overflowing, that’s when symptoms come into play. Mold is one drop in that bucket, but it’s our overall environment where now mold mycotoxins push us over the edge and cause all this dysregulation.”
Some people with EMR Syndrome are also sensitive to mold
Paul Héroux, Ph.D., told The Defender that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) exposure may also worsen people’s susceptibility to mold-related illness. That’s not surprising since mold — like all living organisms — is highly sensitive to all kinds of EMR exposure, he said.
He noted that many people who have EMR Syndrome, meaning they experience symptoms when exposed to EMR, are also sensitive to mold. “Some electrosensitive people seem to relate their discomfort to gut symptoms which could be caused by EMR action on intestinal bacteria or molds,” Héroux said.
Héroux is an associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a medical scientist in McGill University Health Center’s surgery department. He recently published a report tracing how EMR from electrical power grids, cell towers and wireless devices is likely a driver of the global increase in diabetes.
He is also vice chair of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, a “consortium of scientists, doctors and researchers” who study wireless radiation and make recommendations for wireless radiation exposure “based on the best peer-reviewed research publications.”
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Is mold a driver of the autism epidemic?
So far, scientific research has not conclusively linked mold to autism.
However, some studies have found that mold and mycotoxin levels are elevated in autistic children:
- A 2025 study published in the journal Mycotoxin Research found significant levels of ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin, in autistic people.
- A 2019 study published in Scientific Reports found an elevated presence of immunoglobulins — or antibodies — against a common mold, aspergillus, in people with autism, noting that “silent aspergillosis” may strongly influence immune and nervous system development.
- A systematic review published in 2021 in the journal Current Molecular Pharmacology analyzed 11 studies examining a possible connection between mycotoxin exposure and autism. The review found that in most of the studies, “possible links” were found between mycotoxins and autism.
- A 2017 study published in the journal Toxins examined 172 autistic children and 61 non-autistic children in Italy, finding “significant differences” in mycotoxin levels in the autistic children. The study also found a higher level of cytokines — proteins that help control inflammation — and antibodies against wheat and gluten.
Medical physicist Alex Zaharakis, CEO of Autism is Biomedical, previously told The Defender that mold exposure may exacerbate the already existing symptoms of autism.
“Individuals with impaired microbiome balance or altered immune function may be more susceptible to fungal overgrowth, colonization or the biological effects of mycotoxins,” he said.
Lindsey Wells, a naturopathic physician, said she has observed this in her practice. “Mold and mycotoxins can affect many of the same systems that are already vulnerable in children with autism,” she said, because “their clinical picture is often more complex.” As a result, “their symptoms can be more severe, and it can take longer to see meaningful improvement.”
Watch the HHS ‘Mold Surveillance Roundtable’ here:
Related articles in The Defender
- ‘Three-Way Collision’: How Genes, Mold and Vaccines Might Lead to Autism
- Could Exposure to Mold Play a Role in Autism? More Research Needed, Experts Say
- ‘I Intend to Stay in This Fight,’ RFK Jr. Says at CHD Conference
- Wireless Radiation Sickness Gets a New Name: ‘EMR Syndrome’
