Indoor fungi: Friends or foes, asks Aleruchi as she delivers 9th FULafia Inaugural Lecture

Aleruchi Chuku, a professor of Medical Mycology at the Department of

Microbiology and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), has presented her professorial inaugural lecture with a poser: Indoor fungi: Friends or foes?

Prof. Chuku said that her presentation aimed to show how to identify and control the spread of indoor fungi in our environments.

Chuku’s inaugural lecture was titled: Indoor Fungi: Friends or Foes?“

The lecture was held at the Malam Adamu Adamu twin lecture hall in the Permanent Site Campus of FULafia.

Chuku said that “it was observed that some environments were naturally prone to harbour and encourage the growth of indoor fungi while human activities facilitated their proliferation in other instances.”

Dwelling on classification and reproduction of fungi, Chuku posited that “fungi are vast with over 100,000 known species and still expanding on a daily basis as new species get discovered, characterised and named.”

She said that even though some fungi are used positively, especially in the area of medicine, food, cosmetics agriculture and industries, indoor fungi were associated with numerous health risks to humans, animals and plants.

Chuku listed such risks to include chest tightness and wheezing, fever, muscle aches, headaches, cough and chills, mucous membrane irritation and upper respiratory congestion (irritation of the nose, eye and throat) and dryness of the skin.

Chuku said even though “indoor fungi cannot be completely eliminated from buildings because they have the ability to grow anywhere and on anything as long as there is moisture, everyone should develop a healthy respect for fungi, especially the ones that reside within our indoor environment.”

She warned that “a single breath taken in for life in a heavily contaminated environment could be a breath that could lead to death.”

She called on the University to establish mushroom farm to harness edible fungi to generate revenue.

She said: “The benefit of the edible fungi should be harnessed to its fullest by the University Management. A mushroom farm could be set up, to provide revenue for the University while providing a source of healthy protein for the staff, and as raw material for research into the various potential of mushroom potency against infections.”

Earlier, in his address, the Chairman of the occasion and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), Prof. Shehu Abdul Rahman, described Aleruchi “as a good example of outstanding scholar in the field of mycology whose numerous academic works attest to her contribution to knowledge in her field.”

The vice-chancellor, while congratulating Chuku and her family as the first female deputy vice-chancellor and first female to deliver inaugural lecture in FULafia, underscored the importance of professorial inaugural lecture, saying “the tradition establishes new collaborations and strengthens existing relationships.

Welcoming participants to the occasion, Prof. Josephine Odey, the Chairperson, Inaugural Lecture Committee of the University, said that Chuku’s contributions to knowledge had not only added value to her students but to science, in Nigeria and beyond.

She thanked the vice-chancellor for supporting the committee, commending guests for gracing the occasion.