Coccidioidomycosis
Name(s):
Valley (San Joaquin) fever
Nature
Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal respiratory infection of varying degrees of severity: without symptoms, acute, chronic, severe, or fatal.
Incidence
The habitat of the causal fungus [Coccidioides immitis] is alkaline soil of the Lower Sonoran Life Zone in North, Central, and South America. Approximately 60% of patients with primary infections are asymptomatic, 40% have mild to acute pulmonary disease and approximately 0.5% develop serious disease. About 25% of the patients with disseminated disease have meningitis.
During the early 1990s, the incidence of coccidioidomycosis in California increased dramatically. Even though most infections are subclinical or self-limited, the outbreak is estimated to have cost more than $66 million in direct medical expenses and time lost from work in Kern County, California, alone. In addition to the financial loss, this pathogen causes serious and life-threatening disseminated infections, especially among the immunosuppressed, including AIDS patients.
Broader
Value(s)
Reference(s)
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems