A Fungal Disease Mr. Watt Mod 1/2/5 Fever Valley Fever

Symptoms of the Valley Fever  Cough (can be chronic and severe)  Chest pain  Fatigue  Fever  Rash  Headache  Joint aches Tough to diagnose because of so many common symptoms with other diseases 1. (Harms M.D.) What your in-text citation should look like on each slide

Characteristics of the Valley Fever  Often misdiagnosed as cancer, tuberculosis, or bacterial pneumonia  Usually starts in lungs and can spread to virtually any part of body 2. (Filip, and Filip) What your in-text citation should look like on each slide

Contracting the disease  At risk Population: 30-60% of population in desert southwest: S. Calif, Arizona, NM, Texas, Nevada, Utah  Farmers  Construction workers  Farmers  Military personnel  Archaeologists  Anyone who might disturb soil  People with weak immune systems (i.e. HIV)  Pets 2. (Filip, and Filip)

Contracting the disease  Soil containing valley fever fungus is disturbed by construction, natural disasters, or wind,  Fungus spores get into air.  People breathe in the spores and get valley fever.  Disease is not spread from person to person. EACH SLIDE NEEDS AN IN-TEXT CITATION

Testing for the disease SSSSpecific blood test which measures the level of antibodies to the fungus

How contagious is Valley Fever to the public ?  Not spread person to person  No problem going back out into the public

Seriousness of the disease DDDDuration: months to more than a year PPPPersons frequently complain of fatigue and joint aches lasting months. CCCChronic forms may come and go for years

Seriousness of the disease  Effects without treatment:  Before antifungal medications, at least 95% of patients got better without any treatment.  Long Term Side Effects:  Lung abscesses (pus pockets) can be difficult to treat.  If infection spreads throughout the body, causing lesions in the bones and other organs –  mortality rate can reach 60%.

Prevention/ Conventional treatments  No real way to prevent the infection  Conventional Treatments: Bed rest and fever-reducing medications Bed rest and fever-reducing medications In more severe cases, fungus-killing medications may be used In more severe cases, fungus-killing medications may be used  No known resistance to antifungal treatments to antifungal treatments

Video Clip 

That’s All Folks!!  Are there any questions????

Bibliography  (1)  (1) Harms M.D., Roger, ed. "Valley fever.". Mayo Clinic, Web. 11 Dec   (2) Filip, David, and Sharon Filip. "Symptoms of Valley Fever." Valley Fever Survivor ®, n.d. Web. 13 Dec This is a partial Bilbiography that I did 2 years after doing the original power point without any citations