Fungus is good for you?

Amazing what I read in the Star today...

"The RM404mil hospital, one of four built to reduce congestion at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, was meant to be the national reference centre for haematology cases.

Dr Chua said it was all right for fungi to grow in hospitals as long as it was not in sensitive areas such as the operation theatre, intensive care unit and cardiac care unit.

He was commenting on two reports in The Star on Tuesday and Wednesday highlighting complaints from staff and patients that the hospital’s ceilings were fungus-ridden and that faeces fell from the sewage pipes.

Dr Chua explained that the ceilings in the paediatric clinic were fungus-ridden because the clinic was located below the intensive care unit, where the air-conditioning was set at a temperature between 18°C and 20°C and turned on24 hours a day compared with the clinic, which has its air conditioning turned on only eight hours a day.

He also urged the public not to have “fungus phobia” as many antibiotics such as penicillin and amphetamine were made from fungus. "