old_guy
Jan 17, 2014Explorer
sick in Yuma
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is in Yuma and he said a lot of people are sick with valley fever , the hospital is full and they won't let you visit for fear you will get sick too.
2gypsies wrote:old guy wrote:
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is in Yuma and he said a lot of people are sick with valley fever , the hospital is full and they won't let you visit for fear you will get sick too.
This is how rumors get started. It's the flu. Valley fever isn't contagious like the flu.
Flu is Here...
TOOBOLD wrote:SCVJeff wrote:
Having been to the ENT in the past for suspected Valley Fever, I found out that it's not only extremely hard to identify, BUT one of the only labs equipped to identify it is in Bakersfield, California in the San Jouquin Valley. THAT is the valley that this thing apparently got its name from because it's so common up there.
So hopefully he didn't travel thorough there and pick something up.
Yes, the San Joaquin Valley is a hot bed for Valley Fever but so is Arizona. Valley Fever is not contagious, so I don't understand. Valley Fever is a fungus that is found in the soil and when the soil is disturbed by a dust storm, wind or gardening the fungus is inhaled into the lungs. The leading MD for Valley Fever is in Bakersfield, but any lab can run a Cocci Titer. Valley Fever gets really nasty when it disseminates(spreads) in can cause meningitis, can enter the spinal canal and cause fractures. It resembles the flu, but the cough and the fever persist and usually with substantial weight loss.
There is no cure for Valley Fever the fungus remains in the body and requires a lifetime of monitoring the fungus level in the body.
There is a promising new drug in the future of Valley Fever. Nikkomycin Z, currently backed by Valley Fever Solutions, has been shown to be protective in a particularly susceptible strain of mice, and has the possibility of being a cure rather than just another treatment.
The Coccidioidin skin test is FDA approved but there still remains a $700,000 barrier between now and the ability to use it– the fee that the FDA is charging to be able to sell the test is cost prohibitive to any companies given the limited market. There is continued talk of strategizing to get this fee waived or sponsored.
BobsYourUncle wrote:My Roadtrek wrote:
Valley Fever, CDC
Valley Fever
Second link returns URL not Found
wny_pat wrote:
Are you saying that we should cancel our west Texas, New Mexico, and Tucson Az trip next month? Don't know how DW will take that!