Word: fevered
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...newcomer to the San Joaquin Valley, Crown was stunned to learn that the same rich topsoil that makes the region an agricultural Mecca also harbors this deadly microbe. She has become a statistic in the worst epidemic of valley fever ever recorded. From 1986 to 1990, doctors reported an average of 450 cases a year to state authorities. In 1991 the number nearly tripled, to 1,208. Last year it soared to 4,54l, with an estimated death toll exceeding...
...worst-afflicted area is the San Joaquin's Kern County, which has reported nearly 2,000 cases since October. Valley fever is also on the rise in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, where reported cases jumped from 287 in 1991 to 438 last year. But statistics tell just part of the story: only about 10% of those infected ever come to a doctor's attention. The rest have either no noticeable symptoms or mild cases that they mistake for a cold or flu. Though . valley fever, which has been known for a hundred years, has received scant attention outside...
...Valley fever does not spread from person to person but is contracted by inhaling airborne spores from the fungus, which is endemic to dry areas of the American West and Southwest as well as parts of northern Mexico and Central and South America. Face masks offer only limited protection against the infinitesimal spores, and efforts to design a vaccine have yet to succeed. The fungus multiplies dramatically whenever the soil becomes damp after a protracted dry spell. Swept into the air by winds, construction equipment, even the passing feet of farm workers, the spores can travel up to hundreds...
...cases of cocci meningitis a year," says Dr. Royce Johnson, chief of infectious diseases at Bakersfield's Kern Medical Center. "Not long ago, I saw three new cases in one day." Johnson is now treating 51 cases of cocci meningitis and an additional 300 patients with severe valley fever...
...treatment must be prompt. Unfortunately, all four antifungal drugs in use are disagreeable and often toxic. The worst, victims agree, is amphotericin B, known as "Ampho the Terrible" to those who have to have it injected into the base of their skull for meningitis. The side effects include nausea, fever and kidney damage. In severe cases, where the fungus has permanently damaged lung or bone tissue, surgical repair may be needed. Since the drugs serve only to suppress the fungus, not to kill it, those who develop a severe case of valley fever may require treatment for years...