What are the health effects of mould, and how do you get rid of it?

After months of heavy rainfall and increased humidity along Australia's east coast, many people are now dealing with an unwelcome and often stubborn house guest: mould. "There's always mould in every house, but it needs dampness to grow, and there's a lot at the moment because of the floods and rain," said Holly Jones, a researcher in the healthy housing unit at Melbourne University's school of population and global health. "All of our organs and surfaces have barriers, and mould is something that can irritate those barriers and open up that junction," immunologist and allergy specialist Sheryl Van Nunen said. "The thing that concerns me particularly is children … asthma has been clearly established as being associated with visible mould and mould odour," Professor Van Nunen said. A 2018 parliamentary inquiry into CIRS called for more research into the potential health effects of mould, after medical experts noted a lack of evidence showing a causal relationship between "exposure to biotoxins and unexplained complex symptoms".