sick in Yuma

[old_guy]

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.

[Francesca_Knowl]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:


BTW - BIL lives in the same San Fernando Valley (Granada Hills, CA) house he had during the Northridge E-quake. Close to all the resultant damage (including his neighborhood).
Lots of his neighbors from the same era are still there also.
Nobody had any problems with Valley Fever.


~

Is it possible that folks that have lived a long time in endemic areas are just less susceptible to the more serious effects than those from elsewhere?

I ask because according to the U. of A. Valley Fever page, here quoting "Most cases (60%) have no symptoms or only very mild flu-like symptoms and do not see a doctor."

That page goes on to say that an initial infection/bout usually confers lifetime immunity except in some folks who develop weakened systems later on in life.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

SCVJeff wrote:
The last time this was a big deal in the Los Angeles area was after the '94 Northridge quake when all the spores got shaken to the surface (and its the 20th anniversary, so... shhhhh), then a few days later we got a huge Santa Ana wind event that blew the spores off of the N. Los Angeles mtns. and right at the people.

Hey - I didn't post this, "SCVJeff" - you did.

I disagree with -
"The last time this was a big deal in the Los Angeles area was after the '94 Northridge quake.....etc"..:W

~

[mockturtle]

I know that Valley Fever is not the flu. But the epidemic described sounds more like the flu than VF.

[SCVJeff]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

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.

The Phoenix area *is* a hotbed for Valley Fever.
Valley Fever is definitely *NOT* the flu!..:S

Also, this topic has been on the boards before - search the archives.

1. Friend retired from So.Cal. -to- the Phoenix area. Really healthy guy - but Type II diabetic. Came down with VF which went to Pneumonia. Finally cleared his lungs of the pneumonia, but VF is never really cured.

2. Another So. Cal retiree - up in years, never a smoker. Lived near Blythe. As in #1, VF created more problems - which eventually resulted in his demise.

3. Young guy I worked with is currently dealing with his elderly mother's VF "condition" (in Phoenix) which has spread to her brain - requiring surgery. Outcome doesn't look good.

The OP's friend may be in ICU, which would equate to only family as visitors.

If you have any respiratory problems, or a comprised immune system - VF prone areas are *not* a good place to hang out.

~

BTW - BIL lives in the same San Fernando Valley (Granada Hills, CA) house he had during the Northridge E-quake. Close to all the resultant damage (including his neighborhood).
Lots of his neighbors from the same era are still there also.
Nobody had any problems with Valley Fever.
Must be a Santa Clarita ("SCV") thing..;) ~

The Valley Fever syndrome had nothing to do with local EQ damage. The mtns behind his house (Oat Mtn.) rose 15" in the shake, and produced many fissures in the process.. I was up there and saw them. We had a tower foundation split between these cracks and then blown down by said wind. As I mentioned above, there was a Santa Ana wind several days, or a week (can't remember) later that blew all the matter shaken loose into the San Fernando Valley. If you know the area, Santa Clarita is 5 miles north of Oat. and got none of the contamination.

Also, if you are familiar with the area and have ever been through a Santa Ana event, that one produced winds on Oat in excess of 100MPH and created a dust storm 60 miles south into Orange County.. Not as visible as what PHX has had, but the effect is the same. Granada Hills is on the far east end of Oat, and doesn't get anywhere near the dust blows off the ridge that Northridge, and the areas to the south get.

[Desert_Captain]

"This ones for the Captain. "

LMAO! Thanks for reminding me of what "Just another day at the office used to be." I sure miss the free golf that came with that job.

One of the main reasons we moved here from San Diego, (where I lived for 50 years), was the weather. We love the change of seasons and have no problem with Tucson summers. When it gets too hot we just head for higher elevations.... something to do with "it has wheels".

:C

[My_Roadtrek]

I'm not trying to panic people, but I didn't think I would get it either, as I'm a fit, healthy person, as is my neighbor. Just be aware if you get the symptoms, get checked out by your doctor. With proper care, pretty much the same as the flu, you will be fine.
My wife never thought she had VF, but tested positive for it. May have had it when she lived the Sacramento Valley.
Pets are a bigger worry, as it's hard to know how they feel, and the treatment for VF can be expensive.
VF is getting more attention now because Doctors are able to diagnose it better, and are reporting the cases.

Recent dust storm in July over a Phoenix. This and more like them have made the Phoenix area a hot bed for VF, and the rest of AZ is a endemic area.

[arizal]

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...

This is an interesting article but is the wrong Yuma. This the Yuma ,Co. newspaper.

My family has lived in Arizona for over 35 years (4 in Tucson, 1 in the Phoenix area and 30 plus in Prescott. The most important thing with Valley Fever is stay inside with the doors and windows closed during dust storms if possible. We may have been incredibly lucky but no one among our family and friends have not been sickened by Valley Fever (knock on wood ;).
ArizAl

[2gypsies1]

Valley Fever is not new. It's been around forever. Most folks don't get it or don't even know they have it. Then there are those who do get it and the only symptom is a cough. People have lived and traveled in the SW for many, many years and will continue doing so. It's not like a massive new epidemic going on. It's become a hot news item nowdays because there is now a name for it. Years ago it was just a cough. Same thing as autism and other ailments..it's been around a long time but it's in the news now because of giving it a name. Remember the 'black mold' scares and news items for the humid eastern areas? Yes, be aware of it but don't be afraid to go to the SW because of it. If you're in a bad wind storm, stay inside. A typical warm sunny day as we've had this January isn't going to give you Valley Fever. Many doctors and scientists live in the SW. Do you think they'd stay here if it was really a big problem? You'll be just fine.

[Desert_Captain]

When you look at the millions of people living in the "Afflicted" areas and the small number of folks infected you can see that the risk is relatively small. It is good to be aware of the symptoms so as not to be misdiagnosed when you leave the area.

Valley Fever is waaaay down on the bottom of my list of things to worry about and we have lived in the Tucson (a very dusty area), for 9 years. I play a lot of golf and worked on our 3 local courses as a Marshal for 5 years. IMHO: The remote possibility of contracting VF is no reason to avoid RV'ing and enjoying all of the wonderful places the southwest has to offer.
:R

[Gemstone]

Nothing has been posted in the Yuma Sun newspaper, and as my wife works at the hospital here, there has been nothing said about Valley Fever and limiting visits.

Regards
Gemstone

[pasusan]

Here ya go - a map from the CDC that tells the story of where it's at:



And I have to say it sure makes me nervous as I have an allergic reaction to fungus - probably will never go RVing in those areas.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

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.

The Phoenix area *is* a hotbed for Valley Fever.
Valley Fever is definitely *NOT* the flu!..:S

Also, this topic has been on the boards before - search the archives.

1. Friend retired from So.Cal. -to- the Phoenix area. Really healthy guy - but Type II diabetic. Came down with VF which went to Pneumonia. Finally cleared his lungs of the pneumonia, but VF is never really cured.

2. Another So. Cal retiree - up in years, never a smoker. Lived near Blythe. As in #1, VF created more problems - which eventually resulted in his demise.

3. Young guy I worked with is currently dealing with his elderly mother's VF "condition" (in Phoenix) which has spread to her brain - requiring surgery. Outcome doesn't look good.

The OP's friend may be in ICU, which would equate to only family as visitors.

If you have any respiratory problems, or a comprised immune system - VF prone areas are *not* a good place to hang out.

~

BTW - BIL lives in the same San Fernando Valley (Granada Hills, CA) house he had during the Northridge E-quake. Close to all the resultant damage (including his neighborhood).
Lots of his neighbors from the same era are still there also.
Nobody had any problems with Valley Fever.
Must be a Santa Clarita ("SCV") thing..;)

~

[My_Roadtrek]

Some promising news about a cure.

Thank you to Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Dr. Frieden of the CDC, and Dr. Collins of the NIH, as well as the other integral participants in the Kern County Valley Fever Symposium. We had standing room only both days! For those of you who missed it, or want to review what happened, we are beginning the process of collecting all the footage and presentations from the speakers and press that were present, but in the mean time, here are some highlights:

Over 200 people gathered in the Hans Einstein Room at the Kern County Public Health Department for the Survivors Reception and Community Forum on the 23rd. Survivors and current VF sufferers were given priority to ask questions of the panel, consisting of Dr. Thomas Frieden (Director of the CDC), Dr. Francis Collins (Director of the NIH), and special local guest Dr. Royce Johnson, as the VF specialist.
NIH and CDC announced endorsement and plans for a double-blind controlled clinical trial to test for Valley Fever among all patients presenting with Community Acquired Pneumonia (of course you will be asked to participate). We expect it will take a while to get the logistics of the trial all worked out, but we are hopeful that since we have the enthusiasm of Dr. Collins (NIH), and Dr. Frieden (CDC), everything will go as smoothly as possible.
Lynda and Stewart Resnick, owners of Roll Global (parent company of Paramount Farms), were present throughout the symposium, and Mrs. Resnick has expressed interest in possibly being involved in funding vaccine efforts.

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.

Today at the second day of the symposium, we packed the CSUB multipurpose room with standing room only again– tons of people came out to listen and be a part of this amazing event.

[My_Roadtrek]

BobsYourUncle wrote:

My Roadtrek wrote:


Valley Fever, CDC
Valley Fever

Second link returns URL not Found

I fixed the link.
Myths & Facts

[My_Roadtrek]

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!

Read the information I posted, then make a decision. Most people who get it get mild cases, most probably don't know they had it. I was digging in the dirt for months, so my exposure was significant . People in ill health, compromised immune systems, might consider avoiding infected areas. Of course the AZ Tourism Dept. won't tell you that.
The main thing is for people to go back home and not be misdiagnosed for lung cancer.

Myths & Facts