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.

[BobsYourUncle]

My Roadtrek wrote:


Valley Fever, CDC
Valley Fever

Second link returns URL not Found

[path1]

Very informative post. Thanks to all.

[wny_pat1]

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!

[SCVJeff]

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.

[My_Roadtrek]

Even though it looks like it's the flu in Yuma, I'm glad the topic was brought up, and hopefully the readers here will familiarize themselves with the disease, and it's symptoms. Oh, and don't forget about your pets !

[My_Roadtrek]

Except for the fever not being as bad as the flu, picture the flu for about a month, and lingering there after for a few months. The worst fatigue I have ever suffered. Night sweats for a couple of weeks, and I'm a healthy guy. My neighbor who is pretty young and a Tucson police officer almost died from it. We both worked in our yards a lot, which I'm sure where we inhaled the spores. Made the flu look like child's play. Now not everyone gets this sick, like I said, depends on the amount of spores inhaled.
This was a year after I moved to Tucson, WELCOME TO AZ!
Visiting golfers are especially at risk here because of the wind, and course repair/construction.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Sounds more like a fungus to me, if there are "spores" involved. Fungal conditions remain among the most intractable of all diseases, and the most poorly understood.

Fascinating group of organisms, though...more like plants than anything else. One has to wonder why they insist on "populating" our sorry selves!

[2gypsies1]

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...

[mockturtle]

It sounds to me like the flu. Flu has hit hard here in WA this winter with a lot of younger, otherwise healthy people contracting the virus, some fatally.

[My_Roadtrek]

I was sick for over 4 months with it. On an X-ray it looks just like lung cancer, and many people visiting AZ. have gone back home, and been misdiagnosed to the point of having a lung biopsy. There is a blood test, but only works for about 50% of the people.
There is no vaccine yet, and all animals can get it. How sick you get depends on the amount of spores inhaled, and your immune system. Masks don't work, and the spores can be tracked into your house. Pets are very susceptible to it, as they are always sniffing the ground.
Phoenix, is a hot bed right now because of the dust storms.
If visiting AZ, or CA. Valley's, please make yourself aware of the symptoms.
One plus is, once you get it your usually "immune" but it can't be reactivated in some people with weakened immune systems.

Valley Fever, CDC
Valley Fever

[bigorange]

I've always heard that any of us who've lived in AZ for very long have changes in our lungs as a result of cocci exposure that will show up on chest x-ray. Not everyone gets symptoms and correct it's not contagious. I've known a lot of folks who spent a lot of money treating their pets for valley fever too.

[TOOBOLD]

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.

[SCVJeff]

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.

[shakyjay]

Valley Fever is not contagious so hospital not allowing visitor's does not make sense.

[Fizz]

More like the flu


Read this....
Valley fever