Can mold in your home still make you sick even after it's been dried out?

Our air-conditioning drain pipe backed up & overflowed back into the house this summer, wetting the wood & wallboard in the hall closet and air intake areas in the hall. It's dried out since then, but ever since the overflow happened I've been suffering from severe sinus congestion and headaches, frequent sinus infections, and am exhausted all the time.

I've been trying to get my husband (who's not allergic to mold) to clean the areas & paint over them with killz, but he doesn't think mold that dried months ago could still be causing problems for me.

Is it likely or unlikely for the damaged areas to still be making me sick, or should I be looking for another source for my problems? If you think mold could be an issue, can you provide a reputable link or source to show my husband that explains how mold could still be a problem even if it's dried, and with information on how to remove it from the home? Will we have to get our A/C ducts cleaned?

Bess: What your husband needs to understand is that spores can be present even when the mold is not active. Just because he doesn't get sick doesn't mean that someone else will not have a problem. Back when I owned an indoor environmental company, we had a case where only one person (the son) in the house was sick. Everybody else was fine. When we tested, we found the penicillium mold growing from a window leak in one room. The kid was the only one in the family allergic to the antibiotic penicillin, so no wonder he was the only one sick. The leak was repaired, the damaged drywall replaced and everyone was good as new. Based on the problem you described, I would recommend the following. (1) Inspect the air handling unit to see if there is mold on the coil and blower motor assembly. If so, have this cleaned, as well as the lining (there should be a fiberglass lining) of the air handling unit. Have the plenum area between the air handling unit and the main duct inspected for mold growth.
(2) You can do a surface test of the area where the back-up occurred with a do-it-yourself mold test kit. You can get these at a big box store or order them on-line (I will give you a link). If you want to do an air test, it will take at least two kits, one for each area you want to test and one for outside. Every home has a small amount of mold, and when you do air sampling, it is important to find the nautral levels of outdoor mold and the variety. You should always have more mold outside than inside!
(3)If your surface testing indicates mold, remove all the wood and wallboard that was water damaged. Then, spray the area with something like Oxine, BioKleen, or SureCote to keep the mold from coming back. Then replace what you removed with new, dry material, prime and paint. In addition, you should get into the habit of adding a small amount of bleach during the summer months to your drain line. This will keep it from backing up. If you decide to get the ductwork cleaned (a good idea after you get the coils cleaned and the damage repaired), be sure to find someone that is using true source removal methods. I will include a link to the NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaning Association) site. They set the standards for proper remediation and certify professionals. Don't let some ya-hoo with a portable vacuum cleaner tell you they can properly clean your ducts, they can't.
All allergies are a problem with the immune system mis-identifying benign proteins as enemy invaders. Just because you have this defect in your immune system as far as certains molds are concerned doesn't mean that he would necessarily be ill also. Allergy to mold is not contagious.

mold can be very dangerous to your health. it can lead too many problems if not taken care of.