One Of The Most Deadly Fevers In America Caused By Mold

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One Of The Most Deadly Fevers In America Caused By Mold - By: Jim Corkern, Posted on: 2007-08-03

In the deserts of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and different parts of South America exists a particularly nasty variety of mold that can cause an extremely serious skin disease. This is Coccidioides immitis and if left untreated, it can turn fatal.

Coccidioidomycosis (or Valley Fever) is caused by inhaling the spores of C. immitis. The clinical features of this disease (when there are any symptoms at all) usually include rashes, headaches, coughing, fever, and myalgia.

Myalgia is another name for muscle pain and this can be the cause of many different disorders and diseases. The most frequent cause of this is the extensive use of a certain muscle or a set of muscles.

If the patient does not have a history of accidents, then it is probably due to a viral or a bacterial infection. If it is a long term symptom, then it could be a symptom of some kind of nutritional deficiency.

One of the most common causes of the inhalation of the C. immitis spores is the disturbance of contaminated, dusty soil.

This can be due to either a person exposing themselves to the soil while in the process of work, recreation, or as a result of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a dust storm. The states where the disease is known to be endemic are California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The incidence of this disease in the year 1995 in Arizona was 15 infections per 100,000 people.

Those at risk for this disease are those who work in areas where the disease is endemic and do work that exposes them to contaminated dust and soil, which are construction workers, archeologists, or any kind of agricultural worker.

Pregnant women that are in their third trimester, Asians, African Americans, and anyone who has a weakened immune system are also particularly at risk to contract this disease.

Some people who contract this disease do not recover and this can bring on chronic pulmonary infection or even a disseminated infection that can be located all over the body.

If not treated or a person with HIV or AIDs does not recover completely from this disease, severe pulmonary disease may surface.

In 2001, a group of archeologists who had been working at a dig in Utah developed the disease within about two weeks of being exposed to the contaminated soil. Since then, there has been a new regulation put into place requiring the watering of the soil before digging can begin and for the use of breathing masks.

Article Source: http://www.girlarticles.com

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality flood and water damage cleanup and water damage restoration> companies across the united states.