Valley Fever on the Rise - Know the Symptoms

[DOC]

This stuff is no joke. Gold Basin where I hunt is a hot bed for Valley Fever. I know three people who have gotten it there and two dogs.

Doc

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/23403809/valley-fever-hospitalizations-increase-in-calif#ixzz2ej3btpEA

SymptomsBy Mayo Clinic staff

Valley fever is the initial form of coccidioidomycosis infection. This initial, acute illness can develop into more serious disease, including chronic and disseminated coccidioidomycosis.

Acute coccidioidomycosis (valley fever)
The initial, or acute, form of coccidioidomycosis is often mild, with few, if any, symptoms. When signs and symptoms do occur, they appear one to three weeks after exposure. They tend to resemble those of the flu, and can range from minor to severe:

• Fever
• Cough
• Chest pain — varying from a mild feeling of constriction to intense pressure resembling a heart attack
• Chills
• Night sweats
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Joint aches
• Red, spotty rash

The rash that sometimes accompanies valley fever is made up of painful red bumps that may later turn brown. The rash mainly appears on your lower legs, but sometimes on your chest, arms and back. Others may have a raised red rash with blisters or eruptions that look like pimples.

If you don't become ill from valley fever, you may learn that you've been infected only when you later have a positive skin or blood test or when small areas of residual infection (nodules) in the lungs show up on a routine chest X-ray. Although the nodules typically don't cause problems, they can look like cancer on X-ray.

If you do develop symptoms, especially severe ones, the course of the disease is highly variable. It can take months to fully recover, and fatigue and joint aches can last even longer. The severity of the disease depends on several factors, including your overall health and the number of fungus spores you inhale.

Chronic coccidioidomycosis
If the initial coccidioidomycosis infection doesn't completely resolve, it may progress to a chronic form of pneumonia. This complication is most common in people with weakened immune systems. You're likely to have periods of worsening symptoms alternating with periods of recovery. Signs and symptoms include:

• Low-grade fever
• Weight loss
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Blood-tinged sputum (matter discharged during coughing)
• Nodules in the lungs

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis
The most serious form of the disease, disseminated coccidioidomycosis, occurs when the infection spreads (disseminates) beyond the lungs to other parts of the body. Most often these parts include the skin, bones, liver, brain, heart, and the membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord (meninges).

The signs and symptoms of disseminated disease depend on which parts of your body are affected and may include:

• Nodules, ulcers and skin lesions that are more serious than the rash that sometimes occurs with other forms of the disease
• Painful lesions in the skull, spine or other bones
• Painful, swollen joints, especially in the knees or ankles
• Meningitis — an infection of the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord and the most deadly complication of valley fever

When to see a doctor
Valley fever, even when it's symptomatic, often clears on its own. Yet for older adults and others at high risk, recovery can be slow, and the risk of developing severe disease is high.

Seek medical care if you are in a high-risk group and develop the signs and symptoms of valley fever, especially if you:

• Live in or have recently traveled to an area where this disease is common
• Have symptoms that aren't improving

Be sure to tell your doctor if you've traveled to a place where valley fever is endemic and you have symptoms. More and more, people who spend a few days golfing or hiking in Arizona return home with valley fever but are never tested for the disease.

BCOT!

Doc

[pkirkll]

i got it in 2010 i still feel like it acts up in my joints...

Rich Hill area.

i would wake up in The morning feeling like i had been hit by a truck...

lots of ibuprofen since...

[newriverblake]

If you want valley fever move to New River Az. My wife and 3 dogs have contracted it and I'm sure that I have it as I've been a grunt for the last 20 years working outside. V. F. Was total unnoticeable for my wife but for the dog it is very costly.

[Grubstake1]

Don't have to be in the desert, My wife has it also, and has lived in or around Fresno, Ca. all her life. Grubstake

[DolanDave]

Wife got exposed to a mold spore/ spores, maybe valley fever, wouldn't know, as we live in the desert with a lot of dust kicked up all the time, it takes an act of god to get doctors to diagnose. A lot of doctors don't like to talk about anything mold or fungal related. Had joints swell up, lymph nodes swollen all over her body, fevers, aches, dizziness.

Dave

[Grubstake1]

My wifes DR. Diagnosed her with it after a couple of years of her getting constant lung infections, body aches, sinus infections, bloody nose, swollen glands in the neck, muscel jerks, and such. Not a fun thing to have. And that's funny, I don't have it, I ran a D-10 for two years, ripping land for plant tree's in the valley and worked on Sky Harbor air port after the floods washed part of the runway out, back in the late 70'S early 80"S. worked for MM Sundt construction, Also Kiwit, on I-40 out of Seligman AZ. Grubstake

[DOC]

From what I understand it depends on how many spores you inhale. If you only get a couple you have a reaction and get flu like symptoms but your body is able to fight it off and kill the spores. If that happens it is my understanding that your body then has anti-bodies which give you a pretty healthy immunity to Valley Fever in the future. That is supposedly the explanation for why some people seem to be immune to it. It's not that they are immune it is because they actually contracted a minor case of it, thought it was the flu, got better, and from that time forward they have enjoyed immunity from getting it again.

So Grubby, you probably had a mild case of it and didn't know it and now you are immune.

From: https://www.vfce.arizona.edu/valleyfeverinpeople/faqs.aspx

I had Valley Fever in the past. Can I get it again?
Usually a life-time immunity is acquired from an infection which means you don't get it again. However, occasionally, changes in the person's immune system brought about by other diseases or treatments which lower or suppress the immune system can allow a reactivation or re-infection.

[Grubstake1]

That's possible DOC, I sure inhaled lots of dust, back in the few years, I worked driving heavy equipment, AZ. had a law, you had to have a water truck or two on the job, for dust control, but they ran behind us, not in front. Grubstake

[Reno Chris]

Scary stuff for sure.

[Uncle Ron]

I had VF when I was about 16 working construction during the summer in Trona, CA ... I was down hard for three weeks ... Then had a cough that lasted for about six months, like whooping cough ... I was young and strong and athletic and it put me down ... I'd hate to think what it would do to me now ... Nasty stuff!!!! I still have technicians freak when they do a chest xray on me until I explain what's up ... Cheers, Unc