Valley Fever Awareness

 

Both kids were home for the weekend. Sunday decided to go out together for a short road trip. Had a cozy Thai lunch in Mojave before heading out to Red Rock Canyon State Park. It was a beautiful day but marred by some really strong winds. There were swirls of dust rising everywhere.  Couldn’t step out much from the car due to this. 

The San Joaquin valley and desert areas are home to a fungus called cocci( long name coccidioidomycosis). This exists as spores in the soil and when dry weather conditions coincide with  windy weather, these spores are dispersed into the air. When we breathe such polluted air the spores gain access to our lungs and cause pneumonia. This is a fungal pneumonia and requires treatment with anti fungal medication for 6 months or longer. It is popularly called Valley fever. My dear husband too was one of those who got the infection a few years back and recovered only after prolonged treatment. Indian and Phillipino origin people are genetically predisposed for more severe disease when exposed to this fungus.

Besides Kern county and some neighboring areas this fungus is endemic to a few other parts of the country like Arizona. Practicing medicine in an endemic area has brought experience to diagnose and treat this rather lesser known infection. 

But I see there is a bigger role in educating people , both those who live and work here, as well as those who travel and visit . My heart begins to beat faster when I see young kids merrily riding bikes in dusty weather. Each time I see workers on the road without masks doing highway construction or other jobs in dusty conditions I feel like stopping the car to caution them to the perils in the soil they are breathing.

I even at one point made a suggestion to my chiefs to spend on huge billboards cautioning about valley fever. May be it is time to pursue it again till it falls on attentive ears. Anyways.

So Red Rock Canyon visit this time was without much hiking or rock climbing. The only photo taken was a quick one wearing a mask. You can see the pallu was flying away merrily in the wind and posing was impossible.

Saree is a weave from Assam in silk cotton, a deep blue color with multicolored motifs from the Mishing tribe.