A woman who developed meningitis and brain lesions due to mould toxicity is setting up a support group in Bermuda for fellow sufferers.

Raquel Burgesson told The Royal Gazette that far too little was known on the Island about the health problems triggered by mould, despite high-profile cases such as the CedarBridge Academy crisis of 2006, when staff and students became sick in the infested school.

"People have to be educated, from the Health Department, to the media, to lawmakers, to everybody," said Ms Burgesson. "I'm offering help and support and comfort to other people who think they may have been exposed.

"But of course, I can't do a support group if I don't have names. What I want people to know is that mould does make you sick. I'm basically trying to bring about awareness."

The 36-year-old former administrative assistant started suffering from severe headaches, dizziness and exhaustion at the start of this decade and visited 13 doctors in Bermuda, but failed to get a diagnosis.

Tests at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore showed three lesions on her brain — but the cause was unknown and nothing was prescribed that counteracted the debilitating symptoms she was suffering.

Ms Burgesson began to suspect that mould in her Sandys apartment was to blame but didn't get it tested for indoor air quality until she contracted meningitis in 2007 and moved out to her parents' home upstairs to recover.

The tests revealed high levels of toxic mould and Ms Burgesson has since been diagnosed by doctors overseas with mycotoxicosis (fungal poisoning) and demyelination (loss of the substance that insulates nerve endings).

Her parents remediated her apartment at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars and her symptoms have lessened, though she remains unable to work.

Last year, she joined the National Indoor Mold Society, based in New Jersey, and is now its vice president. The organisation has persuaded five states in the US to adopt proclamations on mould toxicity and declare September as National Indoor Toxic Mold Awareness Month.

Ms Burgesson said she hoped Bermuda — where mould infestation caused by humidity is a huge problem and has led to problems at public buildings including schools, King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the library and Supreme Court — would follow suit.

"I don't regret going through anything because I'm within God's will," she said. "I know one of the reasons why this happened to me was to ensure that there has to be more awareness about mould.

"People need to understand the difference between allergy and toxicity. Toxicity is when the mould has entered your body and lodged into your bloodstream."

She still "suffers greatly" from health problems, including tingling in her extremities, short-term memory loss and other dementia-like symptoms. But she said: "I don't even consider myself as a victim. I consider myself a victor: a mould survivor."

Ms Burgesson plans to hold a mould seminar in November or December, featuring experts from the States, including a toxicologist.

Anyone interested in attending or sponsoring the event or in joining the support group should email raquel@nationalindoormoldsociety.org or toxicmoldsurvivor@yahoo.com or call 234-0537.