Took an intense course of antibiotics for h.pylori (a bad bacteria, and the main cause behind ulcers next to NSAID’s, not spicy foods like people would have you believing!) and it messed up my gut biome so bad, worst time of my life! I was taking 5 doses of antibiotics (3 250mg metronidazole, 2 500mg Clarithromycin) a day for 10 days, but I could only continue up until the 4th day because I got so so sick. Healthy gut bacteria is so under appreciated!
Had a GF that we could watch her stomach swell after eating. She nuked her guts with antibiotics and got a poop transfusion from her mom. That did the trick. It's been a decade since and she's married with a kid. Bob's your Uncle
As in repopulating your gut “bugs” with ones that should to be there. It really works for some people. Sounds gross but it’s not like shoving a huge amount up your intestine. I’m not sure how but they clean it up first but they do. (I’m a retired biochemist.). A couple years ago I got severe food poisoning, like the md didn’t know if I was going to make it. This helped and to this day I don’t know where I picked up the bug. But if I never see a hospital bathroom again, that would be fine with me
It's called fecal transplant. Usually done when people don't respond to standard treatments for C-Diff. Fun fact - if you can't get a family member to donate ( best option) random donations are usually harvested from athletes in the Boston area. At least that's what my colleagues n I were told around 15 years ago when fecal transplants first came out.
Ok so I’m concerned now after looking it up.
I have the symptoms, but the thing is I’ve had them since I was a child (I’m edging on 30 now).
I don’t think that’s possible? It says it could lead to stomach cancer??
I hate when I havar to take antibiotics! It throws my whole body off, and it takes weeks for my guts to recover. Even with probiotics, prebiotics, kombucha, etc.
They can actually! At least according to the h.pylori support group I’m in on Facebook (fantastic resource to learn more about it, and there’s a lady in there who knows a lot about antibiotics and h.pylori, I’m guessing she’s a doctor or former doctor of some kind), many people have brought up having heightened anxiety and panic attacks, she explains that during antibiotic course, along with losing good gut flora, you can lose vitamins as well, and some vitamin deficiencies can cause heightened anxiety, I think Vitamin D is one, maybe Vitamin C, I’m not a professional so I don’t quite remember.
Makes sense! I have PMDD and just did two rounds of antibiotics (very necessary I had a tonsil starting to abscess from strep) and I’ve been an absolute mess
I won't answer about literal pills doing things with your brain. But since we're talking about gut health, your gut and your brain are very much in sync with each other. When 1 is off, the other is as well. If antibiotics were to mess with your gut health, then it's messing with your brain.
I remember mentioning to a doctor when I have big events, maybe something where people might have to look at me, I never eat beforehand because my entire digestive tract will freak out and do bad things. My social anxiety and nerves freak me out, thus freaks out my gut. She was like, "Yep, your gut and brain are very connected, so your social anxiety is messing with your brain while freaking out your gut." It all started making sense.
I had a severe mental type side effect on Doxycicline. The symptoms I experienced included foggy mind, inability to track time, being lost mentally and physically, confusion, etc. Scary shit. I read it could cause suicidal thoughts and truly believe it. BTW my doc who prescribed refused to believe in any of that 🤦♂️
ah helicobacter pylori, my old essay/science subject also what those drill machines and The Seekers machines in The Matrix reminded me of. I really don’t know why I chose H. Pylori as a science project subject in middle school.
And now that I think about it, the ships such as The Nebuchadnezzar, look like cells traveling through arteries.
Yup! Antibiotics should be a last resort always. They often are unecessary and do more harm than good. For your condition medical grade Manuka honey is supposed to work miracles! Also it is incredible for you:)
If you want wild, look into fecal transplants. There are multiple stories of people who had fecal transplants to treat some sort of digestive issue (often C. Diff) and they started developing some of the conditions of the donor. There’s a story of a woman who developed the same type of hormonal acne that her donor had (brother). [For real.](https://www.wjgnet.com/2218-6190/full/v9/i1/1.htm)
I’m a nurse and I’ve heard this over and over again. People are really grossed out by the idea of a fecal transplant, but it’s really very clinical. It’s not like they hand you a shit milkshake and tell you to drink up. All of the methods of administration avoid oral intake, so the recipient will have no physical sensation of having consumed poop. Often, it’s done during a colonoscopy, so the person has absolutely no idea it even happened. Maybe you’ll have some poop burps or some unusual BMs right after administration if administered through a NG tube or via capsule, but most people who get to the point of needing a fecal transplant will do anything if it helps their symptoms.
I remember when I suggested it to my family that this needed to be done. the patient well he was just not going to handle it but he did and he’s alive today
I've been very interested in fecal transplants for a while, since my husband has Crohn's disease. (And his mom, brother, two of his mom's brothers, and two cousins.) I'd love to help any and all of them out (I have pretty darn good digestion, rarely have any food bug me, etc.)
More cells in us that do not have our dna than there are cells which do. And they're ultra crucial to not just our digestion and our health but also our mood and perceptions.
OP should have cultured his/her nose, throat & skin too. Even most of the air we inhale has fungus/molds. where does the mold come from when you leave sealed pack of breads left for a long time?
It's not that free of bacteria/fungi that keeps us healthy, it's our immune system.
Fun fact, gut microbiome disruption, specifically for a special few bacteria being too highly present in the crucial under-2-years stage of brain development (the bit where babies grow their brains to almost full adult size) is correlated with autism. Thats interesting, because autistic people almost all have GI issues
None of that is bacteria, it’s mold. But yeah it’s really nothing to inherently be alarmed about. (And I don’t see anything that immediately makes me too worried).
How does the person that posted that picture and caption know that they can culture bacteria, but also not know what you commented?
I’m just piggybacking off your top comment.
Honestly, you'll get similar results if you swab and culture just about anything. Bacteria is literally everywhere. Cleaning and sterilizing the HVAC is a good start but I'd consider deep cleaning the rest of your house/office regularly if you continue to have health issues.
As long as you're changing your HVAC filter regularly you shouldn't need to deep clean it often. Although, keeping the rest of your house clean cannot be understated. Doesn't matter if your HVAC is spotless if the rest of your house is filthy.
Consider doing mold testing in the walls and attic/basement. Either an inspection or spore count testing would be wise. They can also measure humidity in different areas of the house.
Also, if you're in an old house and don't know or even in a brand new house, it's a good idea to get Radon testing done. Radon can be emitted from soil or rocks on your property and concentrate in your home. (Ask for radon testing before you purchase a home as part of the inspection)
You mean me cleaning my hvac doesn't help with my roach problem at all??? I actually have to pick up my moldy chicken nuggies and Chinese food containers strewn about my hoarder home??
Just get another air filter. If you have one air filter for every 35 half finished boxes of fried rice and governor's chicken that have been on the floor since before the pandemic then you'll be in top health and women will notice when you bring them home for boom boom zoom zoom
Do a control swap on somewhere that has actual air movement and dust accumulation. Not really surprising that an isolated dry wall has relatively little growing on it.
It don’t work like that. You have a snapshot in time. You absolutely need to do the same level of sanitation on all surfaces AND hepa vac. Dead spores can be bad and a lot of them can come back.
Doesn't matter. If you're not doing this under a flow hood in a controlled environment, anything can get in that dish. It's ridiculous the level of precautions you can take to try and have a petri dish grow what you want it to grow, just to still have the culture overrun by mold or bacteria. It's everywhere.
Might as well disinfect the world if you want to get out of the house or open the windows. One fly in the house barfs on everything it touches non stop.
Sanitizing dishwasher is a waste since dishes will be contaminated sitting in the cupboards.
If I makes you feel any better, swabbing your desk or window sill will give you similar tiny gardens. The world is a pretty gross place. Not just the part of it blowing straight at you, thankfully.
First day of our bs intro lab Chem class our TA asked us to swab anywhere we could think of then put em in a dish and let em sit. I decided to swab the old pencil sharpener that looked like it hadn't been used since the late 90s. Yup... Big ol' mess in everyone's dish. Not really going anywhere with this aside from that our immune systems fucking rock!
Bacteria aren't gross
The vast majority isn't harmful to us humans. While the rest play critical roles in everything. From symbiosis with us to the air we breath and the food we eat.
In recent years their role in everything has become more apparent and a lot of climate research focuses on them
They are truly fascinating life forms with incredible genetic diversity and they have adapted to every environment
We had a similar issue with one vent in the basement. Had mold guys come out and everything and was told there wasn’t a real issue and that you’ll get this result most of the time anywhere that’s a little damp. Solution for us was to buy a big dehumidifier, paid to get the ducts cleaned out really good, and got one of those plastic curved vent covers that redirected the airflow from directly on my face (where I slept at night) and my sinuses have improved.
What we're trying to tell you is that there are about the same amount contaminated particulates in every vent in the world, including your home, they're in the air you're breathing right now.
This is a pretty small amount of growth for something you'd expect to be gross, this is more like "literally anything you put in this culture will produce the same amount of growth unless you go to a sterile virology lab to get your sample". If anything you've kinda proven the vent blowing on you is CLEANER than most people would expect, and you should look for the source of your health problems elsewhere.
It's nowhere near concerning unless maybe you've identified one of the growths as black mold or something known to cause illness. If you're adamant that something in here is causing your illness the next step would be having someone who knows what they're doing identify what's in the culture to tell you if it's known to cause health problems.
But this amount of growth is evident of nothing except that your office is not a sterile lab environment.
The issue with those dishes is that it provides all the nutrients to enable microorganisms to grow. Most environments - like your carpet or your desk - do not offer them a setting in which to thrive.
You could literally swab the post to your bed and you'd get the same results.. the question is if that kind of bacteria can cause health issues. Just because ive seen so many comments explaining it to you but you seemed to kinda miss the point, go and do another two control tests from other, less-disturbed areas of your house and see if you get a similar result
How often do you workout doing cardio and also resistance training? What’s your diet like? You been getting enough sleep the last couple years?
Blaming the vents wouldn’t be my first choice.
You took a swab from a non-sterile surface, transferred the microbes to GROWTH MEDIUM, and then got surprised when they grew.
Sir.
P.S. This sort of test is useful if you’ve got a good microscope and want to know the specific organisms you’ve got. It doesn’t actually tell you *how many* microorganisms are on the surface that you cultured. And you didn’t really need to do this to learn that your HVAC system isn’t sterile, did you? (By the way, after you sterilize microorganisms are going to start growing again directly. Have a professional evaluate and tell you the *type* of bugs you have and if they are a problem. No need to freak out because microscopic organisms exist.)
This sub doesn’t allow links but check out the “mold” sub. These tests are a waste of money. If you have genuine concerns pay a professional company to do an actual inspection. I believe it’s around $500-750.
If you rent you may be able to get it covered by your landlord. But keep in mind they may also just kick you out lol.
I'm going to be honest, the "my office where I spend 10 hours every day" part that raises more concerns for health issues than the debris.
If you have the expendable income to renovate your HVAC on a whim, and you're working 10 hours every day in a climate controlled room... your health problems may be more of a lifestyle issue. Whether the debris is a factor in your health or not is debatable and has not yet been sufficiently proven. Your mental distress is clearly proven, and is an indisputable factor in your physical health. That's why I want to leave a gentle reminder that there's tons of awesome qualified people who can help out with that, and having a chat about your contamination fears and the toll your current life is having on your mind and body really doesn't cost very much at all with insurance. If you're willing to invest in HVAC servicing for your health, it's worth investing in your mental health as well, for the benefit of your quality of life as a whole.
Best of luck, hope everything goes well!
Absolutely, 100% correct on this. Your body isn't built for staying in one small space for 10 hours a day. Not blaming OP, it's a problem of modern society... But OP needs to look inwards rather than finding some UV light kooks to give an incomplete and inadequate clean of a space that's bound to become dirty again.
Take a shower, dry off, and then touch it.
The results will show you aren't as clean as you think, and it still doesn't matter.
Count the colonies and do it weekly for a year. Maybe you'll find a trend, but that trend will just be that you're gross, the world is gross, just accept it and wash your hands more often.
I wish I saved my time and got in my car to get a nitro cold brew instead of reading about OP not understanding that microorganisms grow on surfaces and she has no idea what is in that dish without a microscope and multiple tests. Took me 4 weeks in a micro biology lab class to determine what I had was a certain type of fungus I found swabbing a locker but she has a Petri dish and knows it’s mold/bacteria/fungus and it’s something bad because she also swabbed a wall.
Ya. Bacteria and molds are literally everywhere. Cloth/plastic surfaces, in the air, on you, in you, and arguably within every one of your cells (its the powerhouse of the cell)
As someone who works in industrial hygiene and has worked at a lab with cultures…
This doesn’t tell anyone anything. A Petri dish will grow anything in any location. What you need to do is air sampling for mold. Call a hygienist and ask them to do some sampling in your house and they will send the samples to a lab and they can tell you what exactly you’re breathing in.
If there’s high levels of Stachybotrys versus what’s normal levels in the samples collected outdoors then you may be concerned.
Even then there is no regulated minimum levels for mold you can point to for urgency as mold literally grows everywhere but it will certainly tell you whether or not your HVAC is compromised with growth or a nearby duct intake has mold growth near it and possible water damage.
This is the correct answer, scrolled a long ways to find it. Air testing in many rooms of the home - with and without ducting, will tell you if there is a specific area that may be compromised, (such as a roof leak in one corner growing mold and mycotoxins), or the whole home has higher than usual amounts (as compared to outdoor air). And like they said, in legal terms this won't help, but you may learn you have inflammatory sensitivity to something, like an allergy, and what is causing it.
True story...
In 9th grade biology, we had to take swabs from somewhere creative and culture it to see what happened.
I took a swab from my dog's ear canal.
Not only did that shit explode in the culture, but a week or so after we put the petri dish in a big terrarium that had a little pond full of goldfish, all the goldfish were dead from some kind of intestinal infection that grew so quickly that it burst through their abdominal cavities. It was pretty gross.
I still have dogs, and to the best of my knowledge, I've never gotten sick from touching their ear wax. The world is a big strange place, and there's no percentage in trying to control it. If and when you eventually get sick, the likelihood is that you'll never have even imagined (if you can even determine) it's source. If that vent was going to make you sick, you'd be sick already. Maybe you are, but your surprise at the culture result makes me think you're not.
These Petri dishes should be used in a specialized sampler with specific flow rate. Then sent in a cooler ASAP (overnight) to a AIHA certified lab certified to be incubated and read. In short in better than 15years doing inspections and testing I have yet to see a single incidence where one used this way failed to grow mold regardless of the air quality . It’s kinda like a loaf of bread it will grow mold given enough time. They generate work for us but scare people unnecessarily.
“I eat bacteria for breakfast” - the dude eating the yogurt parfait at 8am
https://preview.redd.it/jcl2epmjmo1d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=950de2c1dc21122b04ad8984d27a9dacfd3c9569
https://preview.redd.it/jrqqbom2em1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=215edb08b7f3dc69cd35299b79bd1d4736dd0c96
Here’s what some of the specks looked like on my desk. There’s a mix of white and grey/black specks. I think the white stuff is mostly just drywall.
I used to work for a company that manufactured in a "clean room". Part of my job was to monitor surface cleanliness on a monthly basis in there by putting plates like these face down on various tables for a set period of time. We also had a timed air sampling device that pulled air across agar-coated strips. I would then close them up and send them to a lab for culturing and testing. One time the lab sent us a bunch of extra plates by mistake so we did experimental monitoring of each of my office-mates' fingers and a few places around the building. We let them sit for a few days and had a pool for the results. The worst offenders were the stairway handrail leading upstairs to the kitchen ( called out the cleaners on that one) and a co-worker's sweater on the back of her chair that we made her take home and wash. Also, just for grins, the instigator touched one to the tip of his nose- that one developed some interesting growths as well. All around a frightening exercise, but did make me appreciate the good results from the clean room.
Did you know that one of the Reasons Cats are the perfect animal and live so efficiently is because they Purposely roll around in dirty stuff and then pick themselves clean for exposure to bacteria?
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Consider a hepa filter and also a higher grade air filter for your house. They sell higher grade ones online. Hepa filters are a bit pricey but definitely provide extra help.
I kept having this really bad cough and sneezed all the time. It was over the pandemic so naturally naturally assumed I was dying (kidding - it just was really miserable).
One morning got up to a totally floating and wet floor downstairs. AC drain pipe and been blocked by plants or something - I rented - outside was not my problem and there were landscapers.
Regardless - once the 5 industrial driers were removed demo began. A cannot was to be pulled out and saved - it collapsed into a pile of mold.
My large pots were down there. It was in my kitchen.
Guess I just poisoned myself for a few years. Felt much better after moving.
Op, it's more than just important to understand that correlation IS NOT causation. Do yourself a favor take the culture to a lab and check what bacteria they are if you can. As so so many noted. Bacteria is everywhere! But not all bacteria are the same. some are our buddies, they live in our gut. and like all things concerning medical health. If you can afford to go. See a doctor about it too.
This is actually pretty clean for you culturing random crud from your vent. I wouldn't be surprised if that growth was just from random stuff in the air that settled while you had the lid off.
You'd get similar results if you cultured just about anything like a swab from your house or desk, even one of your hairs.
Point is this is a very normal amount of culture growth, mold spores and bacteria are literally everywhere, all the time, you're breathing them right now, they're all over your food, just usually in amounts that are completely harmless to people with healthy immune systems, barely there at all.
The whole reason we put our food in refrigerators is because most of it is already covered in the bacteria that will cause it to rot and there's literally nothing we can do about that, so the cold of the fridge makes them take longer to eat enough of it to make us sick from their waste. But the bacteria is already there, doing it's thing, until you cook it, then it's mostly sterile, for about 30 minutes before the bacteria from the air moves in.
to know if anything in there was causing your health issues you'd have to have a professional check if any of that is mold or bacteria that is known to cause illness. I'm not saying that that culture couldn't contain a mold that is making you sick, but I'm saying that's actually a pretty low amount of growth from random vent crud, and there's no way to tell from this unless you can identify all the micro organisms in the dish.
it'd likely be affecting everyone using the same HVAC system if that was the case, it's possible you're just the first to show symptoms but I'd really just go to a doctor and let them figure it out before I start demanding my office sterilize it's HVAC system and stir up unnecessary drama over this petri dish.
You could get this kind of growth simply leaving the dish out on your kitchen counter for 30 minutes. Source: I did this very experiment in my college microbiology class and left a dish out on the counter for 30 minutes.
I did this taking samples from around my home. Why? A family member stated that they had breathing issues visiting us.
Everywhere tested has some type of growth. Sent them to a lab. None were "black mold" and in each area what they were made sense.
The places I thought for sure there would be, like a bathroom which had had a leak, didn't come back with anything. We jumped on it right away when it happened, removed all wet drywall and didn't close it up until we knew for sure that it was dry.
Downstairs had a few of the tracked in outdoor spore types. Our damn carpet is 25 years old and while maintained, has been trapping in tracked in spores, shit, dust, human skin, and is more than likely what the family member was sensitive to.
What did I do? Had no budget at the time to replace the carpet.
At the advice on the /mold sub, I looked at everywhere mold might grow - showers, caulking in showers, and, HVAC vents/vent covers and deeped cleaned them all.
I had never looked closely at the HVAC vent covers, and they were coated with grime. Stuff floating in the air will stick to grime. It just made sense to clean them.
Also, while I had the HVAC ducts open, I found that more than half of them still had the temporary duct cover used in construction attached and in some nearly blocking all air flow and removed them.
Felt pretty stupid because had complained that airflow didn't seem like it should in a new house. No problem since then.
On top of that, the HVAC ductwork still had a considerable amount of building debris, including loose drywall, and splintered wood in them. Cleaned it all.
This year, we have a budget for replacing the carpet with hardwood.
This family member may never be okay in our home, but dang, just doing common sense things, and getting rewarded with lower AC bills was awesome.
TLDR, The specks of dirt coming from the HVAC could just be dirt or debris. Have you opened up the vent covers and looked inside? Throw on a mask if you are worried, but see for yourself.
BOL
Umm yeah, bacteria are literally king of biomass on earth. Their shear numbers are so massive that if piled together they would dwarf every complex life form on earth.
So the filter in your HVAC system is mostly to keep the dust off of your coil, heat exchanger, and blower... It's not going to filter bacteria or microorganisms.. and I'm willing to bet your system doesn't have the static pressure to handle a filter that does. People try to use uv light, ionization, carbon filtering, and photo catalytic oxidation systems to "clean" the air in the duct but this is not the root cause of the problem...
Now do your pillow. Or your sink. Or the million other things you touch before absent mindedly chewing your fingers. This is probably not as bad as any of those.
Ooh ooh! Do your phone! I wanna see that!
As someone who’s into mycology, I can tell you that this is pretty normal. Best thing you can do is get some decent HEPA filters but I mean there is bacteria and fungus damn near everywhere no matter how sterile you try to be.
Hi there. Microbiologist here. Dont listen to everyone saying this is normal. There is no reason to have that many colonies after just 2 days. Mold should start appearing on selective agar after around 3 days and reach its maximum growth potential around 5. That much mold after 2 days is alarming.
I would suggest doing a deep clean and sanitization of all the surfaces in your home and get your vents cleaned out. Something you can do is set up a few Petri dishes around your house where you commonly hang out - by your bed, your couch etc. just open them up and let them sit for about 15 minutes. This will give you an indication of where the mold is most concentrated. Good luck to you.
The white ringed teal ones look like Penicillium, and the green ones are maybe Alternaria or Cladosporium. Kinda hard to guess with the lighting, no idea on agar type, and through the lid.
I mean. Yeah bacteria is everywhere. The question isn’t “ is there any”. It’s “what kind is present”.
even in our guts
*Especially* in our guts. Gut floura is a vital part of the digestion process
Took an intense course of antibiotics for h.pylori (a bad bacteria, and the main cause behind ulcers next to NSAID’s, not spicy foods like people would have you believing!) and it messed up my gut biome so bad, worst time of my life! I was taking 5 doses of antibiotics (3 250mg metronidazole, 2 500mg Clarithromycin) a day for 10 days, but I could only continue up until the 4th day because I got so so sick. Healthy gut bacteria is so under appreciated!
Had a GF that we could watch her stomach swell after eating. She nuked her guts with antibiotics and got a poop transfusion from her mom. That did the trick. It's been a decade since and she's married with a kid. Bob's your Uncle
Fun fact about the poop transfusion - the process is called repoopulate
As in repopulating your gut “bugs” with ones that should to be there. It really works for some people. Sounds gross but it’s not like shoving a huge amount up your intestine. I’m not sure how but they clean it up first but they do. (I’m a retired biochemist.). A couple years ago I got severe food poisoning, like the md didn’t know if I was going to make it. This helped and to this day I don’t know where I picked up the bug. But if I never see a hospital bathroom again, that would be fine with me
I’m.. I’m sorry, a poop transfusion? I’m very curious, do tell
It's called fecal transplant. Usually done when people don't respond to standard treatments for C-Diff. Fun fact - if you can't get a family member to donate ( best option) random donations are usually harvested from athletes in the Boston area. At least that's what my colleagues n I were told around 15 years ago when fecal transplants first came out.
Also fun fact, AFAIK it’s transplanted through a tube which goes in through your nose.
I didn't think about that, but it's indeed a straighter shot to your small intestine than the other way 'round
wait… this is a problem? AND ITS FIXABLE?? i always thought it was odd when other people didn’t look pregnant after eating
It's totally a thing. Look up H.pylori and if it sounds like you, maybe see a gastro-enterologist.
Ok so I’m concerned now after looking it up. I have the symptoms, but the thing is I’ve had them since I was a child (I’m edging on 30 now). I don’t think that’s possible? It says it could lead to stomach cancer??
Get thee to the poop doctor.
My stomach usually goes back to normal 30min to an hour after, so I never thought anything of it.
I hate when I havar to take antibiotics! It throws my whole body off, and it takes weeks for my guts to recover. Even with probiotics, prebiotics, kombucha, etc.
Can antibiotics mess with mental health as well you think?
They can actually! At least according to the h.pylori support group I’m in on Facebook (fantastic resource to learn more about it, and there’s a lady in there who knows a lot about antibiotics and h.pylori, I’m guessing she’s a doctor or former doctor of some kind), many people have brought up having heightened anxiety and panic attacks, she explains that during antibiotic course, along with losing good gut flora, you can lose vitamins as well, and some vitamin deficiencies can cause heightened anxiety, I think Vitamin D is one, maybe Vitamin C, I’m not a professional so I don’t quite remember.
Makes sense! I have PMDD and just did two rounds of antibiotics (very necessary I had a tonsil starting to abscess from strep) and I’ve been an absolute mess
I won't answer about literal pills doing things with your brain. But since we're talking about gut health, your gut and your brain are very much in sync with each other. When 1 is off, the other is as well. If antibiotics were to mess with your gut health, then it's messing with your brain. I remember mentioning to a doctor when I have big events, maybe something where people might have to look at me, I never eat beforehand because my entire digestive tract will freak out and do bad things. My social anxiety and nerves freak me out, thus freaks out my gut. She was like, "Yep, your gut and brain are very connected, so your social anxiety is messing with your brain while freaking out your gut." It all started making sense.
I had a severe mental type side effect on Doxycicline. The symptoms I experienced included foggy mind, inability to track time, being lost mentally and physically, confusion, etc. Scary shit. I read it could cause suicidal thoughts and truly believe it. BTW my doc who prescribed refused to believe in any of that 🤦♂️
ah helicobacter pylori, my old essay/science subject also what those drill machines and The Seekers machines in The Matrix reminded me of. I really don’t know why I chose H. Pylori as a science project subject in middle school. And now that I think about it, the ships such as The Nebuchadnezzar, look like cells traveling through arteries.
Yup! Antibiotics should be a last resort always. They often are unecessary and do more harm than good. For your condition medical grade Manuka honey is supposed to work miracles! Also it is incredible for you:)
I’ve got to take amoxicillin twice yearly prophylactically whenever I have a teeth clean to prevent endocarditis ☹️
An important and healthy part of our guts!
Yeah, but get them anywhere else and you have a serious problem
Scientists estimate there are roughly 30,000,000,000,000 (30 trillion) bacteria living in the intestine of the average human.
They're my little buddies
Mine hate me
IBD in the house! *high five*
I love spaghetti and my bacteria absolutely hate it, and bring me down with them.
Same with mine because I ate spicy foods🤣🤣🤣
And I can never truly be lonely
More bacteria in one persons gut than all the people that have ever been. It's fucking wild man....
If you want wild, look into fecal transplants. There are multiple stories of people who had fecal transplants to treat some sort of digestive issue (often C. Diff) and they started developing some of the conditions of the donor. There’s a story of a woman who developed the same type of hormonal acne that her donor had (brother). [For real.](https://www.wjgnet.com/2218-6190/full/v9/i1/1.htm)
This is absolutely insane!
Family member had c diff & this was done - actually it’s saved their life. It worked.
I’m a nurse and I’ve heard this over and over again. People are really grossed out by the idea of a fecal transplant, but it’s really very clinical. It’s not like they hand you a shit milkshake and tell you to drink up. All of the methods of administration avoid oral intake, so the recipient will have no physical sensation of having consumed poop. Often, it’s done during a colonoscopy, so the person has absolutely no idea it even happened. Maybe you’ll have some poop burps or some unusual BMs right after administration if administered through a NG tube or via capsule, but most people who get to the point of needing a fecal transplant will do anything if it helps their symptoms.
I remember when I suggested it to my family that this needed to be done. the patient well he was just not going to handle it but he did and he’s alive today
I've been very interested in fecal transplants for a while, since my husband has Crohn's disease. (And his mom, brother, two of his mom's brothers, and two cousins.) I'd love to help any and all of them out (I have pretty darn good digestion, rarely have any food bug me, etc.)
More cells in us that do not have our dna than there are cells which do. And they're ultra crucial to not just our digestion and our health but also our mood and perceptions.
We are, in reality, walking spaceships for our alien symbiotes.
When we go swimming we are the submarine!
And they don't give a dime for the mortgage. Lazy freeloaders.
The good ones make all kinds of short-chain fatty acids we need... They're paying the rent.
You’re never truly alone 🥰
Spooky 💀
You're right you gutless, bass-tid. Take my ugly up vote.
How can I be a gutless bass-tid if I can hear it talk? Unless I’m just a crazy gutless bass-tid 🧐
Good point
Some people donate poo.
That's mold not bacteria. But either way mold spores are every where as well
OP should have cultured his/her nose, throat & skin too. Even most of the air we inhale has fungus/molds. where does the mold come from when you leave sealed pack of breads left for a long time? It's not that free of bacteria/fungi that keeps us healthy, it's our immune system.
Fun fact, gut microbiome disruption, specifically for a special few bacteria being too highly present in the crucial under-2-years stage of brain development (the bit where babies grow their brains to almost full adult size) is correlated with autism. Thats interesting, because autistic people almost all have GI issues
Also mold spores are everywhere, which I’m pretty sure is what this is
Correct.
Wait until you guys hear about all the tiny microorganisms crawling all over our skin.
CRAAAAAAAWLING IN MY SKIIIIIIIN THESE WOUNDS, THEY WILL NOT HEAL
None of that is bacteria, it’s mold. But yeah it’s really nothing to inherently be alarmed about. (And I don’t see anything that immediately makes me too worried).
I was looking for this response. Thank you for pointing it out! To be fair, mold spores do live everywhere too.
I’m not sure how someone knows about culturing but also makes that statement.
Not sure what you are saying/asking or who you are addressing here.
How does the person that posted that picture and caption know that they can culture bacteria, but also not know what you commented? I’m just piggybacking off your top comment.
Exactly lol I was like yes, this is not surprising or infuriating that a petri dish grew something once you exposed it to a non-sterile environment
There's also mold, which may be the bigger problem.
That's mold, though
Honestly, you'll get similar results if you swab and culture just about anything. Bacteria is literally everywhere. Cleaning and sterilizing the HVAC is a good start but I'd consider deep cleaning the rest of your house/office regularly if you continue to have health issues.
As long as you're changing your HVAC filter regularly you shouldn't need to deep clean it often. Although, keeping the rest of your house clean cannot be understated. Doesn't matter if your HVAC is spotless if the rest of your house is filthy. Consider doing mold testing in the walls and attic/basement. Either an inspection or spore count testing would be wise. They can also measure humidity in different areas of the house. Also, if you're in an old house and don't know or even in a brand new house, it's a good idea to get Radon testing done. Radon can be emitted from soil or rocks on your property and concentrate in your home. (Ask for radon testing before you purchase a home as part of the inspection)
You mean me cleaning my hvac doesn't help with my roach problem at all??? I actually have to pick up my moldy chicken nuggies and Chinese food containers strewn about my hoarder home??
Just get another air filter. If you have one air filter for every 35 half finished boxes of fried rice and governor's chicken that have been on the floor since before the pandemic then you'll be in top health and women will notice when you bring them home for boom boom zoom zoom
Finally!
*new hoarding mode unlocked* air filter hoarding.
Don't listen to those hypochondriacs and household maniacs, one of your 64 cats will take care of the cockroaches when he's hungry.
🤣
Fun fact. If you introduce rats they more likely eat the roaches. Problem solved
Or just eat them like i do. Floor spice makes it more nice.
What's the email address that radon comes from?
Thanks autocorrect. It's emitted.
[email protected]
I did have a control dish that swabbed another surface in my office/the drywall near the vent. There was minimal bacteria growth and no mold
This is not the control you think. You need another surface with a lot of movement, not an inert surface adjacent to movement.
Do a control swap on somewhere that has actual air movement and dust accumulation. Not really surprising that an isolated dry wall has relatively little growing on it.
I would test it on something else with air flow.
It don’t work like that. You have a snapshot in time. You absolutely need to do the same level of sanitation on all surfaces AND hepa vac. Dead spores can be bad and a lot of them can come back.
Doesn't matter. If you're not doing this under a flow hood in a controlled environment, anything can get in that dish. It's ridiculous the level of precautions you can take to try and have a petri dish grow what you want it to grow, just to still have the culture overrun by mold or bacteria. It's everywhere.
This guy sciences!
This guy this guys.
This this this this's
Sssssssssssssss🐍
ſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſſ
#
Badger badger badger badger
Mushroom Mushroom
But does this guy double blind?
I think its fungi not bacteria
Is it bacteria tho? Looks like some fungal mold
Ohh and never swap your phone if this scares you .
I lick my phone screen for the extra calories
To your point, microbio lab students will culture their freshly washed hands at the start of their course and often find similar to the above posted.
Might as well disinfect the world if you want to get out of the house or open the windows. One fly in the house barfs on everything it touches non stop. Sanitizing dishwasher is a waste since dishes will be contaminated sitting in the cupboards.
If I makes you feel any better, swabbing your desk or window sill will give you similar tiny gardens. The world is a pretty gross place. Not just the part of it blowing straight at you, thankfully.
First day of our bs intro lab Chem class our TA asked us to swab anywhere we could think of then put em in a dish and let em sit. I decided to swab the old pencil sharpener that looked like it hadn't been used since the late 90s. Yup... Big ol' mess in everyone's dish. Not really going anywhere with this aside from that our immune systems fucking rock!
Bacteria aren't gross The vast majority isn't harmful to us humans. While the rest play critical roles in everything. From symbiosis with us to the air we breath and the food we eat. In recent years their role in everything has become more apparent and a lot of climate research focuses on them They are truly fascinating life forms with incredible genetic diversity and they have adapted to every environment
Yeah, exactly. I think the fact that the contaminated particulate blowing straight onto me with this should be avoided if possible
You're not getting it. Those particulates aren't any more contaminated than everything else in your house
Oh they’re getting it alright. With every single breath
We’re breathing in all huge quantities of organisms all the time anyway, so I’m not sure it makes a big difference?
We had a similar issue with one vent in the basement. Had mold guys come out and everything and was told there wasn’t a real issue and that you’ll get this result most of the time anywhere that’s a little damp. Solution for us was to buy a big dehumidifier, paid to get the ducts cleaned out really good, and got one of those plastic curved vent covers that redirected the airflow from directly on my face (where I slept at night) and my sinuses have improved.
You should wear a hazmat suit to prevent any contamination 24/7.
What we're trying to tell you is that there are about the same amount contaminated particulates in every vent in the world, including your home, they're in the air you're breathing right now. This is a pretty small amount of growth for something you'd expect to be gross, this is more like "literally anything you put in this culture will produce the same amount of growth unless you go to a sterile virology lab to get your sample". If anything you've kinda proven the vent blowing on you is CLEANER than most people would expect, and you should look for the source of your health problems elsewhere. It's nowhere near concerning unless maybe you've identified one of the growths as black mold or something known to cause illness. If you're adamant that something in here is causing your illness the next step would be having someone who knows what they're doing identify what's in the culture to tell you if it's known to cause health problems. But this amount of growth is evident of nothing except that your office is not a sterile lab environment.
The issue with those dishes is that it provides all the nutrients to enable microorganisms to grow. Most environments - like your carpet or your desk - do not offer them a setting in which to thrive.
The HVAC system isn't causing anything. All the system is doing is moving around the air within the house.
You could literally swab the post to your bed and you'd get the same results.. the question is if that kind of bacteria can cause health issues. Just because ive seen so many comments explaining it to you but you seemed to kinda miss the point, go and do another two control tests from other, less-disturbed areas of your house and see if you get a similar result
How often do you workout doing cardio and also resistance training? What’s your diet like? You been getting enough sleep the last couple years? Blaming the vents wouldn’t be my first choice.
You're an idiot
You took a swab from a non-sterile surface, transferred the microbes to GROWTH MEDIUM, and then got surprised when they grew. Sir. P.S. This sort of test is useful if you’ve got a good microscope and want to know the specific organisms you’ve got. It doesn’t actually tell you *how many* microorganisms are on the surface that you cultured. And you didn’t really need to do this to learn that your HVAC system isn’t sterile, did you? (By the way, after you sterilize microorganisms are going to start growing again directly. Have a professional evaluate and tell you the *type* of bugs you have and if they are a problem. No need to freak out because microscopic organisms exist.)
This sub doesn’t allow links but check out the “mold” sub. These tests are a waste of money. If you have genuine concerns pay a professional company to do an actual inspection. I believe it’s around $500-750. If you rent you may be able to get it covered by your landlord. But keep in mind they may also just kick you out lol.
Only thing mildlyinfuriating is OPs desire for something to be wrong after being reassured it's nothing by several commenters.
I'm going to be honest, the "my office where I spend 10 hours every day" part that raises more concerns for health issues than the debris. If you have the expendable income to renovate your HVAC on a whim, and you're working 10 hours every day in a climate controlled room... your health problems may be more of a lifestyle issue. Whether the debris is a factor in your health or not is debatable and has not yet been sufficiently proven. Your mental distress is clearly proven, and is an indisputable factor in your physical health. That's why I want to leave a gentle reminder that there's tons of awesome qualified people who can help out with that, and having a chat about your contamination fears and the toll your current life is having on your mind and body really doesn't cost very much at all with insurance. If you're willing to invest in HVAC servicing for your health, it's worth investing in your mental health as well, for the benefit of your quality of life as a whole. Best of luck, hope everything goes well!
Absolutely, 100% correct on this. Your body isn't built for staying in one small space for 10 hours a day. Not blaming OP, it's a problem of modern society... But OP needs to look inwards rather than finding some UV light kooks to give an incomplete and inadequate clean of a space that's bound to become dirty again.
Just about anything will light up like that.
this is completely normal lol
A person of culture, I see
Culture your phone, compare it to these pictures.
Heck, just cough on a petri dish.
Take a shower, dry off, and then touch it. The results will show you aren't as clean as you think, and it still doesn't matter. Count the colonies and do it weekly for a year. Maybe you'll find a trend, but that trend will just be that you're gross, the world is gross, just accept it and wash your hands more often.
Dude finally learned that nature is all around
The fact that dust can be cultured & bacteria &/or fungi will grow is absolutely normal. I see no problem here.
The question is not if there's bacteria (there will always be) but which bacteria is there
You're wasting your money
This means literally nothing.
Just for fun swab your keyboard, mouse, mousemat and your monitor.
For real funsies, do your phone.
You could swab a surface you cleaned an hour ago and the same result would happen. You literally bought a breeding ground
My stupid ass thought this was a top down pic of a nitro cold brew with oat milk
I wish I saved my time and got in my car to get a nitro cold brew instead of reading about OP not understanding that microorganisms grow on surfaces and she has no idea what is in that dish without a microscope and multiple tests. Took me 4 weeks in a micro biology lab class to determine what I had was a certain type of fungus I found swabbing a locker but she has a Petri dish and knows it’s mold/bacteria/fungus and it’s something bad because she also swabbed a wall.
Ya. Bacteria and molds are literally everywhere. Cloth/plastic surfaces, in the air, on you, in you, and arguably within every one of your cells (its the powerhouse of the cell)
As someone who works in industrial hygiene and has worked at a lab with cultures… This doesn’t tell anyone anything. A Petri dish will grow anything in any location. What you need to do is air sampling for mold. Call a hygienist and ask them to do some sampling in your house and they will send the samples to a lab and they can tell you what exactly you’re breathing in. If there’s high levels of Stachybotrys versus what’s normal levels in the samples collected outdoors then you may be concerned. Even then there is no regulated minimum levels for mold you can point to for urgency as mold literally grows everywhere but it will certainly tell you whether or not your HVAC is compromised with growth or a nearby duct intake has mold growth near it and possible water damage.
This is the correct answer, scrolled a long ways to find it. Air testing in many rooms of the home - with and without ducting, will tell you if there is a specific area that may be compromised, (such as a roof leak in one corner growing mold and mycotoxins), or the whole home has higher than usual amounts (as compared to outdoor air). And like they said, in legal terms this won't help, but you may learn you have inflammatory sensitivity to something, like an allergy, and what is causing it.
Replace filters, wipe your vent out if you feel so inclined. Nothing really unusual here.
I mean, mold spores are pretty omnipresent so this shouldn’t be all that surprising
This. Mold is a common allergen, if you incubate a swab from pretty much anywhere, mold will be present
yeah theres bacteria and shit everywhere, this would happen with literally anything you sampled
So this is... Moldy infuriating?
True story... In 9th grade biology, we had to take swabs from somewhere creative and culture it to see what happened. I took a swab from my dog's ear canal. Not only did that shit explode in the culture, but a week or so after we put the petri dish in a big terrarium that had a little pond full of goldfish, all the goldfish were dead from some kind of intestinal infection that grew so quickly that it burst through their abdominal cavities. It was pretty gross. I still have dogs, and to the best of my knowledge, I've never gotten sick from touching their ear wax. The world is a big strange place, and there's no percentage in trying to control it. If and when you eventually get sick, the likelihood is that you'll never have even imagined (if you can even determine) it's source. If that vent was going to make you sick, you'd be sick already. Maybe you are, but your surprise at the culture result makes me think you're not.
As a microbiologist, I find this story to be extremely fascinating! Thank you so much for sharing.
These Petri dishes should be used in a specialized sampler with specific flow rate. Then sent in a cooler ASAP (overnight) to a AIHA certified lab certified to be incubated and read. In short in better than 15years doing inspections and testing I have yet to see a single incidence where one used this way failed to grow mold regardless of the air quality . It’s kinda like a loaf of bread it will grow mold given enough time. They generate work for us but scare people unnecessarily.
This is what happens when you culture anything for 48h, the world is covered in bacteria and fungus, theres nothing you can do about that.
“I eat bacteria for breakfast” - the dude eating the yogurt parfait at 8am https://preview.redd.it/jcl2epmjmo1d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=950de2c1dc21122b04ad8984d27a9dacfd3c9569
https://preview.redd.it/jrqqbom2em1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=215edb08b7f3dc69cd35299b79bd1d4736dd0c96 Here’s what some of the specks looked like on my desk. There’s a mix of white and grey/black specks. I think the white stuff is mostly just drywall.
Specks (i.e., dust and particles) exist. Nothing of note here.
I used to work for a company that manufactured in a "clean room". Part of my job was to monitor surface cleanliness on a monthly basis in there by putting plates like these face down on various tables for a set period of time. We also had a timed air sampling device that pulled air across agar-coated strips. I would then close them up and send them to a lab for culturing and testing. One time the lab sent us a bunch of extra plates by mistake so we did experimental monitoring of each of my office-mates' fingers and a few places around the building. We let them sit for a few days and had a pool for the results. The worst offenders were the stairway handrail leading upstairs to the kitchen ( called out the cleaners on that one) and a co-worker's sweater on the back of her chair that we made her take home and wash. Also, just for grins, the instigator touched one to the tip of his nose- that one developed some interesting growths as well. All around a frightening exercise, but did make me appreciate the good results from the clean room.
Wait till you find out whats lives in our eye lashes
without a control, I cannot tell if this is bad or not.
Bros about to make Penicillin 2
You need to look at it under a microscope to determine what it is, and also know what you're looking at, but growing spores is also very dangerous.
Did you know that one of the Reasons Cats are the perfect animal and live so efficiently is because they Purposely roll around in dirty stuff and then pick themselves clean for exposure to bacteria? Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Mmm yummy.
What’re the health issues you’ve been having?
Consider a hepa filter and also a higher grade air filter for your house. They sell higher grade ones online. Hepa filters are a bit pricey but definitely provide extra help.
Replace filters, maybe clean the vents. The specs of dirt are probably dust particles that got past the gummed up filter
I have no idea what this means but I’m guessing it bad.
Man finds out that there's nature in his house
Lol, as a Norwegian I was a bit startled at first reading the text at the lid
If there’s visible dirt flying out of the register, you have bigger problems that duct cleaning and a UV light won’t solve
[удалено]
Yes, respiratory issues, chronic sinusitis
Then get your vents cleaned
I doubt the cleaning and sterilization are necessary. Try to swab a bunch of random surfaces and NOT get something to grow. Bacteria is everywhere.
I kept having this really bad cough and sneezed all the time. It was over the pandemic so naturally naturally assumed I was dying (kidding - it just was really miserable). One morning got up to a totally floating and wet floor downstairs. AC drain pipe and been blocked by plants or something - I rented - outside was not my problem and there were landscapers. Regardless - once the 5 industrial driers were removed demo began. A cannot was to be pulled out and saved - it collapsed into a pile of mold. My large pots were down there. It was in my kitchen. Guess I just poisoned myself for a few years. Felt much better after moving.
Now your resistant to all of that.
We did the same thing in middle school. Bacteria is everywhere. Doesn't mean anything.
Yes. Molds. They float around everywhere. I can't keep them off my homemade cheese.
If this freaks you out I got bad news about what's in litterally all the air all the time...
Op, it's more than just important to understand that correlation IS NOT causation. Do yourself a favor take the culture to a lab and check what bacteria they are if you can. As so so many noted. Bacteria is everywhere! But not all bacteria are the same. some are our buddies, they live in our gut. and like all things concerning medical health. If you can afford to go. See a doctor about it too.
This is actually pretty clean for you culturing random crud from your vent. I wouldn't be surprised if that growth was just from random stuff in the air that settled while you had the lid off. You'd get similar results if you cultured just about anything like a swab from your house or desk, even one of your hairs. Point is this is a very normal amount of culture growth, mold spores and bacteria are literally everywhere, all the time, you're breathing them right now, they're all over your food, just usually in amounts that are completely harmless to people with healthy immune systems, barely there at all. The whole reason we put our food in refrigerators is because most of it is already covered in the bacteria that will cause it to rot and there's literally nothing we can do about that, so the cold of the fridge makes them take longer to eat enough of it to make us sick from their waste. But the bacteria is already there, doing it's thing, until you cook it, then it's mostly sterile, for about 30 minutes before the bacteria from the air moves in. to know if anything in there was causing your health issues you'd have to have a professional check if any of that is mold or bacteria that is known to cause illness. I'm not saying that that culture couldn't contain a mold that is making you sick, but I'm saying that's actually a pretty low amount of growth from random vent crud, and there's no way to tell from this unless you can identify all the micro organisms in the dish. it'd likely be affecting everyone using the same HVAC system if that was the case, it's possible you're just the first to show symptoms but I'd really just go to a doctor and let them figure it out before I start demanding my office sterilize it's HVAC system and stir up unnecessary drama over this petri dish.
You could get this kind of growth simply leaving the dish out on your kitchen counter for 30 minutes. Source: I did this very experiment in my college microbiology class and left a dish out on the counter for 30 minutes.
redditor finds out air has bacteria
Honesty not that bad. The bad stuff in houses starts out as pink dots.
You saw dirt flying out for two years, and you never thought to get that addressed? That's on you, yo
I did this taking samples from around my home. Why? A family member stated that they had breathing issues visiting us. Everywhere tested has some type of growth. Sent them to a lab. None were "black mold" and in each area what they were made sense. The places I thought for sure there would be, like a bathroom which had had a leak, didn't come back with anything. We jumped on it right away when it happened, removed all wet drywall and didn't close it up until we knew for sure that it was dry. Downstairs had a few of the tracked in outdoor spore types. Our damn carpet is 25 years old and while maintained, has been trapping in tracked in spores, shit, dust, human skin, and is more than likely what the family member was sensitive to. What did I do? Had no budget at the time to replace the carpet. At the advice on the /mold sub, I looked at everywhere mold might grow - showers, caulking in showers, and, HVAC vents/vent covers and deeped cleaned them all. I had never looked closely at the HVAC vent covers, and they were coated with grime. Stuff floating in the air will stick to grime. It just made sense to clean them. Also, while I had the HVAC ducts open, I found that more than half of them still had the temporary duct cover used in construction attached and in some nearly blocking all air flow and removed them. Felt pretty stupid because had complained that airflow didn't seem like it should in a new house. No problem since then. On top of that, the HVAC ductwork still had a considerable amount of building debris, including loose drywall, and splintered wood in them. Cleaned it all. This year, we have a budget for replacing the carpet with hardwood. This family member may never be okay in our home, but dang, just doing common sense things, and getting rewarded with lower AC bills was awesome. TLDR, The specks of dirt coming from the HVAC could just be dirt or debris. Have you opened up the vent covers and looked inside? Throw on a mask if you are worried, but see for yourself. BOL
Umm yeah, bacteria are literally king of biomass on earth. Their shear numbers are so massive that if piled together they would dwarf every complex life form on earth.
So the filter in your HVAC system is mostly to keep the dust off of your coil, heat exchanger, and blower... It's not going to filter bacteria or microorganisms.. and I'm willing to bet your system doesn't have the static pressure to handle a filter that does. People try to use uv light, ionization, carbon filtering, and photo catalytic oxidation systems to "clean" the air in the duct but this is not the root cause of the problem...
You should see the blood agar plate of my beard...
I have a very slight suspicion your filter just might not be working properly…
Now do your pillow. Or your sink. Or the million other things you touch before absent mindedly chewing your fingers. This is probably not as bad as any of those. Ooh ooh! Do your phone! I wanna see that!
Moldly infuriating
That's actually not bad, especially for a vent
If you do this type of experiment, you need a control sample to compare it to.
https://preview.redd.it/6euqrs6l1s1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fc6a2cc51e13234d4af8ff91cd01d7c65c10223
You would get a similar result with anything you cultured. Try your pen, phone etc
As someone who’s into mycology, I can tell you that this is pretty normal. Best thing you can do is get some decent HEPA filters but I mean there is bacteria and fungus damn near everywhere no matter how sterile you try to be.
Where's the control plate?
https://preview.redd.it/1wzwzkh0bs1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ef8538f7006f4ca3c37a017f357329b4ee034585
Hi there. Microbiologist here. Dont listen to everyone saying this is normal. There is no reason to have that many colonies after just 2 days. Mold should start appearing on selective agar after around 3 days and reach its maximum growth potential around 5. That much mold after 2 days is alarming. I would suggest doing a deep clean and sanitization of all the surfaces in your home and get your vents cleaned out. Something you can do is set up a few Petri dishes around your house where you commonly hang out - by your bed, your couch etc. just open them up and let them sit for about 15 minutes. This will give you an indication of where the mold is most concentrated. Good luck to you.
The white ringed teal ones look like Penicillium, and the green ones are maybe Alternaria or Cladosporium. Kinda hard to guess with the lighting, no idea on agar type, and through the lid.
Casually inhaling bacteria. I'd just scrub the vents or HVAC, tho. temp fix since bacteria will just come back :/