Disseminated coccidioidomycosis

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis is caused by breathing in the spores of a fungus found in desert regions. The infection spreads throughout the body and is especially common in immunosuppressed people. Antifungals may help but the death rate is very high.

Review Date: 08/28/2009
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and 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.