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Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#11

Post by LinuxBender »

generalizations wrote: post #10
Bender wrote: post #6

For 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.

Here [1] is one of them. And this [2] is a protocol I have been loosely following using non-rx alternatives for ionophore biotoxin binders.

[1] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36069791/

[2] - https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/mold-related-biotoxin...

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#12

Post by LinuxBender »

chaostheory wrote: post #5

Masking 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.

Short us using a PAPR these are expensive with some P3-100's attached it is near impossible to use such masks working in a field as it just gets too hot and tiring. More common these days is to buy farm equipment that is enclosed and has a good cabin filter, ideally HEPA but unfortunately there are many tasks that must be done manually.

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#13

Post by CiteXieAlAlyEtc »

chaostheory wrote: post #5

Masking 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.

> However, I understand that not everyone can afford to keep buying good masks

As a tip for fellow price-constrained folks out there: upgrading to an elastomeric respirator can help substantially with costs. Dentec's marketing copy suggests about a 90% reduction in costs compared to using disposable respirators [0]; given a pack of 50 duckbills on projectn95 [1] is roughly the same price as a new elastomeric w/ filters [2], seems to check out.

As an added benefit, going in on an elastomeric can help a bit with both mask fit and comfort.

[0] https://dentecsafety.com/usa/products/respiratory-protection... [1] https://www.projectn95.org/products/aci-surgical-n95-respira... [2] https://www.criticaltool.com/style/dentec-400nx-black-half-m...

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#14

Post by myself248 »

LinuxBender wrote: post #12
chaostheory wrote: post #5

Masking 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.

Short us using a PAPR these are expensive with some P3-100's attached it is near impossible to use such masks working in a field as it just gets too hot and tiring. More common these days is to buy farm equipment that is enclosed and has a good cabin filter, ideally HEPA but unfortunately there are many tasks that must be done manually.

There are plenty of DIY PAPRs now, many of which need some refinement to be truly comfortable, but they're certainly affordable.

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#15

Post by LinuxBender »

myself248 wrote: post #14
LinuxBender wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short us using a PAPR these are expensive with some P3-100's attached it is near impossible to use such masks working in a field as it just gets too hot and tiring. More common these days is to buy farm equipment that is enclosed and has a good cabin filter, ideally HEPA but unfortunately there are many tasks that must be done manually.

There are plenty of DIY PAPRs now, many of which need some refinement to be truly comfortable, but they're certainly affordable.

You've got my interest. I would love to see some articles if you have any handy. I found some cheaper off-brand PAPR's on Amazon but they have really bad reviews and look sketchy.

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#16

Post by kadoban »

classichasclass wrote: post #8
kadoban wrote: post #4

Valley 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 en…

Yeah, it does not seem like an easy disease to do anything about. Not like we're going to be able to purge it from all the dust.

Absent work on a treatment/cure, best we can probably do is education and maybe get people to wear masks while doing dusty work outside?

It does seem like the medical community isn't really _that_ informed about it either. I basically had to diagnose myself and convince the doctor at the clinic I went to.

The only people who seem that informed about it are whoever writes that "places where certain fungal infections are common" warning in every advert for immunosuppressants.

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#17

Post by gretyuph »

classichasclass wrote: post #8
kadoban wrote: post #4

Valley 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 en…

Do we not have effective anti fungals?

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#18

Post by bragr »

I grew up in Kern county where valley fever is prevalent and it is very serious. I've known many people that completely lost their summers from being so ill for months. The people who get chronic valley fever are the worst, just waisting away. They look like cancer/chemo patients.

Edit: the article neglected to mention the terrifying aspect that the infection can spread to your brain causing fungal meningitis

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#19

Post by gretyuph »

chaostheory wrote: post #5

Masking 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.

It’s crazy to think about but we may soon be in the dystopian future where everyone has a rebreather system while they walk around in grungy neon lit cities. It’s preparing us for what colonizing other planets might look like I guess.

Re: Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

#20

Post by bragr »

andsoitis wrote: post #9

LA County Public health has worthwhile information including: - number of cases by area - incidence rate per 100,000 from 2003 - 2022 http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/diseases/cocci.htm

LA is not affected that badly fortunately. Look one county north and the incidence is an order of magnitude larger: https://kernpublichealth.com/valley-fever/
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