Coccidioidomycosis

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Coccidioidomycosis - chest x-ray

Pulmonary nodule - front view chest X-ray

Coccidioidomycosis is infection with the spores of the fungus Coccidioides immitis.

San Joaquin Valley fever; Valley fever

Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection most commonly seen in the desert regions of the southwestern United States, and in Central and South America. You get it by breathing in fungal particles from soil. The infection starts in the lungs.

There are three forms of coccidioidomycosis: acute, chronic, or disseminated.

• Acute pulmonary coccidioidomycosis. It almost always mild, with few or no symptoms, and goes away without treatment. The incubation period -- the time between breathing in the spores and becoming sick -- is 7 to 21 days.
• Chronic pulmonary coccidioidomycosis can develop 20 or more years after initial infection. Infections (lung abscesses) can form and rupture, releasing pus (empyema) between the lungs and ribs (pleural space).
• Disseminated coccidioidomycosis is a widespread form of the disease. Infection spreads to other parts of the body, including the skin, brain, bones, and heart. Meningitis occurs in up to half of all people with disseminated coccidioidomycosis.

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Traveling to an area where the fungus is commonly seen raises your risk for this infection. You are more likely to develop a serious infection if:

• You are of Native American, African or Philippine descent
• You have a weakened immune systems due to AIDS, diabetes, or medications that suppress the immune system.

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).