I learned something new today, something that anyone living or traveling in the American Southwest really should know about. News to me!
Valley Fever. Lung infection caused by a soil fungus, airborne in dust. Many never realize they’ve been exposed, few to no symptoms. Others can have flu-like symptoms for weeks or months. Others, rarely, have the disease dissipate to other parts of the body. Untreated at this stage, this fungus can kill!
I’ve been dealing with a rash, and Valley Fever may or may not be it’s cause, but sure glad to be aware of Valley Fever now! And if this rash persists, I’ll go get tested.
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6 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Its called coccidiomycosis (sp?). I caught in 1976 when I first went to Arizona. I was working in archaeology at the time. I only had flu-like symptoms for a few days. But it left a quarter-sized scar on my left lung.
Not only that, but when I've had to take a TB for my teaching job, it reacted positive. Even the second test was positive. I can never take a TB test from then on without massive explanations about why its positive.
t1nick
Level 8
May 27, 2019
0
Oh I had valley fever when I first moved to Arizona. It floored me.
Amisja
Level 8
May 27, 2019
0
I’ve been so fatigued, just thought it was stress. And aches are omnipresent, so I pay no attention. But this rash! Put it all together, and it fits. Plus been camping in the zone where it’s endemic all winter and spring.
How long were you sick?
Here's info about Valley Fever from American Lung Association.
[lung.org]
Here's a longer article about individual cases of it. One man thought he caught valley fever during a wildfire. Everyone said you are better off if you get it treated early, because it can take as much as a year for it to go away. Once you've had it, evidently your system builds up an immunity to it. But get it treated, because it can cause extreme immune system responses.
[buzzfeednews.com]
AnonySchmoose
Level 8
May 27, 2019
2
A couple of my friends became very sick from coccidioidomycosis (valley fever). Most people that gt it, never even know, but it can be serious. One friend came down with it after she left Arizona, the doctors in Texas were having trouble figuring it out, after they put her symptoms in the computer, they came back and asked her if she had been in Arizona. It didn't take long to figure it out then. When my wife got sick, they checked her for it, but unfortunatly it was much more serious.
GeorgeRocheleau
Level 8
May 27, 2019
2
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