Coccidioidomycosis - acute pulmonary

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Fungus

Most of the time, people with this time of infection never have symptoms. In other people, the symptoms range from mild, cold- or flu-like symptoms to severe pneumonia.

If they occur, symptoms start about 5 to 21 days after you come into contact with the fungus. They may include:

• Chest pain (varies from mild to severe)
• Cough , possibly bloody
• Fever
• Headache
• Joint pain
• Rash, may be painful, red lumps, on lower legs (erythema nodosum)

Rarely, the infection spreads from the lungs through the bloodstream to involve the skin, bones, joints, lymph nodes, and central nervous system or other organs. See: Disseminated coccidioidomycosis

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The health care provider will perform a physical exam and listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. The following tests may be done:

• Biopsy of lymph node or lung
• Bronchoscopy
• Blood test for antibodies to the fungus
• Chest x-ray
• Chest CT scan
• Complete blood count (CBC)
• Sputum smear (KOH test or Papanicolaou stain)

Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).