Coccidioidomycosis - Mycotic Infection on the Rise (fwd)

[Kay Lancaster <kay@fern.com>]

Here's a fairly recent publication on coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever)
from Medscape.  Since something like 60% of cases are asymptomatic,
resolve without treatment and confer life-long immunity, perhaps the best
course is to catch it while you're healthy -- like many other "uncommon
infections" that are actually much more common than we realize.  Its
biggest danger is to immunocompromised people. 

The medscape site requires registration, but it's free.  If,
for some reason, you can't get the article, drop me a note
and I'll send you a copy (it's long!).

Primary symptoms are mostly flu-like, 7-28 days after exposure.

Kay Lancaster    kay@fern.com  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: Coccidioidomycosis - Mycotic Infection on the Rise

> Authors: Michael Gales, PA-C; Catherine McClain Phillips, PA-C
> 
> [Back] Abstract: The southwestern United States has seen a dramatic
> surge in the incidence of coccidioidomycosis, now considered the
> region's leading mycotic infection with an annual morbidity estimated
> at 35,000 cases. Diagnosis can be difficult since 60% of infected
> patients are asymptomatic. While the majority of those infected
> spontaneously recover without antibiotic intervention, for
> some--especially immunocompromised persons--disseminated disease can
> lead to high morbidity and a greater than 50% mortality. Providers
> should maintain a high index of suspicion in patients presenting with
> pulmonary complaints, particularly those who may have recently visited
> an endemic area.[Clinician Reviews 7(4):71-74, 77-79, 82-84, 1997.
> © 1997 Clinicians Publishing Group and Williams & Wilkins.]

//major snippage of the rest of the article.... several hundred lines,
including references//

http://www.medscape.com/CPG/ClinReviews/1997/v07.n04/c0704.2/c0704.2.html