Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
scientificamerican.com
Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
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Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#21/1000 who are infected die from it which is actually kind of terrifying to think about, especially since it also lives outside of the body in the soil.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#3Doesn't it also infect pets, e.g., dogs? Anyway, something we're always mindful of here in the southwest US.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#4Valley Fever was the least pleasant sickness I've had yet, would definitely recommend avoiding if you can. The fever and cough were both _very_ unpleasant, and it hurt to walk for weeks.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#5Masking with n95 or higher rated masks (95% efficacy or higher) is really important these days if you want to avoid COVID, mitigate air pollution from near constant wildfires, and now this.
However, I understand that not everyone can afford to keep buying good masks, or have a nice enough climate to be able to wear one outdoors. if the weather is too warm & humid, you’ll likely die from heat exhaustion instead.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#6For those interested in researching mold a growing topic that may be of interest is Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Most of the nih.gov papers are behind a paywall otherwise I would link a few. I personally find it interesting because I have been exposed to mold and have some of the symptoms.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#7Doesn't it also infect pets, e.g., dogs? Anyway, something we're always mindful of here in the southwest US.
Yes, it can theoretically infect any animal that inhales the arthroconidia (basically its spores), but there has been no documented spread from animals to humans or humans to humans.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#8Valley Fever was the least pleasant sickness I've had yet, would definitely recommend avoiding if you can. The fever and cough were both _very_ unpleasant, and it hurt to walk for weeks.
It's a disease that we run into in TB control programs in certain areas because it can resemble it on chest X-ray. Most people with it I've encountered did okay with modest or even no treatment, but I had one case who ended up with it chronically and all I could do was suppress it. Trying to control dust and reduce inhalation are right now the best options to prevent it, and everyone acknowledges it's nowhere near enough.
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#9LA County Public health has worthwhile information including:
- number of cases by area
- incidence rate per 100,000 from 2003 - 2022
Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers
#10For those interested in researching mold a growing topic that may be of interest is Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Most of the nih.gov papers are behind a paywall otherwise I would link a few. I personally find it interesting because I have been exposed to mold and have some of the symptoms.
Feel free to link them anyway; those who are interested can pull the DOIs and use scihub.