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| Fig. 32.8 Coccidioidomycosis. Areas depicted in red represent the regions reporting the most cases of coccidioidomycosis. (Courtesy of the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center teaching files.) |
Coccidioidomycosis, also called San Joaquin Valley fever, is caused by
Coccidioides immitis. It is a dimorphic fungus found in the soil of arid and semiarid regions. This organism is endemic in southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, southwestern Texas, northern Mexico, and Central and South America (Fig. 32-8). Over 100,000 people in the U.S. are infected annually, and the number of reported cases increased by as much as 144% throughout the 1990s. Incidence is affected by annual temperature, precipitation and natural events like earthquakes.
Crum NF, Lederman ER, Stafford CM, et al: Coccidioidomycosis: a descriptive survey of a reemerging disease. Clinical characteristics and current controversies,
Medicine 83:149–175, 2004.
