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Doesn't it also infect pets, e.g., dogs? Anyway, something we're always mindful of here in the southwest US.
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
The SciAm article shows NO support for the assertion that the incidence is growing. You and the other comment about Kern are the only actual data.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 cl…
Doesn't it also infect pets, e.g., dogs? Anyway, something we're always mindful of here in the southwest US.
I note the patient's sex and race because it seems this particular group either has a particular tolerance for the disease until it's metastatic, or has a particularly aggressive reaction to metastatic disease. In either case, my ID colleagues tell me that when they present, they seem to present with markedly worse systemic disease. Don't take my word for it, here's the Mayo Clinic, reviewing many other studies over decades:
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
Valley fever's been around forever. It's a bad thing, and for sure we should develop a vaccine. The SciAm article shows NO support for the assertion that the incidence is growing. You and the other comment about Kern are the only actual data.
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20...
[1] https://health.ucdavis.edu/valley-fever/about-valley-fever/c...
I've only diagnosed one case of coccidioidomycosis, and it was on a small tropical island. Black male in his early 20s. Looked for all the world like a cutaneous lymphoma. Biopsy was full of granulomas and I got a fungal stain reflexively. We were all flabbergasted. Turns out the young man was from the Central Valley. I note the patient's sex and race because it seems this particular group either has a particular tol…
The most disturbing was the case where the dog's bones were very, very heavily eroded away -- to the extent that to me, a layperson, the bones weren't really recognizable anymore. As usual, the dog and one of the owners were recreating on trails near a dry lake bed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Valley fever's been around forever. It's a bad thing, and for sure we should develop a vaccine. The SciAm article shows NO support for the assertion that the incidence is growing. You and the other comment about Kern are the only actual data.
Here is an all California survey of incidence data for 2019 compared to incidence from 2013-2018. The figures on page 8 suggest a northward shift to me: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20...
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.