The association between moisture/dampness and negative health indicators (e.g. asthma) is quite well documented. This is usually pinned on an unspecified “mold” although in reality the causative agent(s) is unknown. For an excellent and detailed review of this topic see here.
A new study came out this week that looked in particular at the effects of exposure to moisture and dampness in infants:
Indoor mold poses key asthma risk for babies — The Chart – CNN.com Blogs.
The original study can be found here (not open access).
The study measured mold levels (36 types of mold) in homes of numerous children at age 1 and then again at age 7. They then correlated those measurements to the development of asthma. What I thought was most interesting was that the exposure to mold at age 1 was a significant predictor of asthma risk, but exposure at age 7 was not.