Mold health effects

I was on sick leave for two days last week. I felt like I was coming down with the flu, but never got proper symptoms. First a cold sore broke on my face and several pimples rose. Then I got random nose bleeds, general discomfort in the body and a headache. My throat was itchy and my nose stuffy. I felt better after resting over the weekend, but feel a little weary again after being at work for three hours. Am I allergic to work? Or more likely, to mold?

I hear this health centre is moldy. The shop I used to work in also had mold, as did another health centre, until it moved to a new building. I don't remember having respiratory sympoms then, but I did suffer from a regular headache. I blamed it on poor air quality. But, half the nurses at my old work place had either arthritis or asthma. I asked around and also here the staff suffers from similar illnesses. Sounds like a big percentage for it to be just a coincidence, as 4-5 % of the Finnish population suffers from asthma and only about 2 % from arthritis.

There are articles on the Internet about the negative health effects of mold, yet none of the nurses I know have been admitted that their diagnose would relate to a moldy environment. According to an article found from the National Institute for Health and Welfare, typical symptoms caused by a damp building include respiratory, skin and eye irritation, coughing and excess mucus production, a runny nose, hoarseness, difficulty in breathing and other general symptoms such as fatique, fever, muscle and joint aches and problems with memory and concentration. These symptom appear when in the building, but usually become milder or vanish when exposure has ended. Other links also mention diarhhea, vomiting, dizziness and liver damage.

After some research, I couldn't find percentages on how many public buildings in Finland suffer from mold, but I found an example from a study done in vocational schools. 42 % of the participating schools suffered from dampness and 22 % from mold. The working environment of healthcare personel has been studied, but I couldn't get my hands on the actual article. But from my experience, several health institutes in Finland (health centres, hospitals) are moldy and many workers have been forced to move to another location.

Scary shit.