Types, Occurrence and Treatment of Coccidioidomycosis

A fungal disease caused by Coccidioides immitis long time well-known as valley fever or California fever nowadays has its official name Coccidioidomycosis. It is constantly present in some places such as California (from where it received its name), Nevada, Arizona, Texas. For certain time Coccidioides immitis is inactive and is safely hidden in the soil during long dry spells. Later, though, it starts growing as a mold with filaments. After being swept into the air by demolition of the soil (e.g. farming) small particles called arthrocondia may cause infection. As soon as the disease could not be forwarded from one person to another, the risk of catching the illness from somebody who already suffers is really low.

Anyway, over half of population in certain affected areas has experienced such a disease. This illness is mild, usually characterized by flu-like signs and rushes. On the over hands we sometimes observe a serious result caused by valley fever. In such cases infected people show heavy pneumonia or the so-called scattered variant of the disease when it spreads inside the whole organism. This type of California fever can damage the body. Moreover, skin ulcers, heart inflammation, meningitis or urinary tract problems can be caused by this disseminated form. There are also some cases of death. Naturally, people with weakened immune system are amenable to this illness. Even dogs, livestock, monkeys and other animals could be under risk of catching the infection. Definitely, the treatment and presentation really differ.

In 40% of cases Coccidioidomycosis expresses itself as any other illness with fever, cough, rash and myalgia. Sometimes we do even observe severe chronic forms especially when talking about disseminated infection. But the main risk is in misunderstanding. In other words, such an infected can be easily messed up with general flu, as the symptoms are rather familiar. The difference is that in case with valley fever we have to take steps immediately and not to let it grow.

There exist different types of Coccidioidomycosis, namely primary pulmonary, disseminated and primary cutaneous ones.

Every illness has its own history and Coccidioidomycosis is not an exception. The first person experienced this disease was recorded in 1919 in California. That’s why it was first called California fever. Already in 2006 the highest rates were observed in the Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga.

Coccidioidomycosis was widely scattered in the west and southwest of American states. Southern New Mexico was considered as an endemic region in 2007. California showed over 16000 cases of an infection. So we are to keep in mind that when people perform a lot of construction this may lead to destroying of the soil structure. Moreover, some of the soil substituents haven’t been studied yet, especially fungi growth.

During the 1950s and 1960s it was even made a suggestion to use Coccidioides immitis as biological weapon to annihilate enemies. It would make lethal effects on certain segments of the nation and as a result will lead to its extinction. Fortunately, these plans have been not fulfilled. Though some experiments were made long time after.

Today in most cases a special kind of microscope can define such type of the infection. With certain nucleotide primers Coccidioides immitis DNA is able to be expanded by PCR. It is also possible to detect the components in culture by morphological classification. Sometimes molecular tests can be used in such cases. In this way serologic analysis may be helpful as then you have the opportunity to fungal antigen or host antibody.

But now arises another logical question: is it really possible to cure California fever nowadays? What types of treatments could be proposed and are how helpful they are? As long as there are no high-qualified studies that will give certain ways out or solutions we are to look for any information regarding this infection. But still some mild cases do not usually require treatment.

As mentioned above Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection affecting the lungs and mostly asymptomatic. A history of residence in an endemic area could be resulted in establishing the risk of inflammation. When observing such symptoms as fever, breathlessness, arthritis or rash you have to pay attention to it. Generalized symptoms such as weight loss or lymphadenopathy may present chronic infection.

There are different types of treatments for various cases.

The Ayurvedic treatment of the so-called California or valley fever is mostly for both chronic and general symptoms. Here we can use such medicines as Shwas-Kuthar-Ras, Sameer-Pannag-Ras, Shrung-Bhasma, Pushkarmool.

In some special cases or when the condition of the patient is extremely severe we can use Tribhuvan-Kirti-Ras, Maha-Sudarshan-Qadha and Laxmi-Narayan-Ras separately, but only if required.

As mentioned above when not cured at the beginning, the illness can result into severe, heavy forms, which are called chronic. Then patients feel themselves much worse and are to be urgently observed. Naturally,

Chronic, scattered coccidioidomycosis is treated depending on the organ affected and the presentation and expression of symptoms. According to the age of the patient different symptoms may occur, as a result diverse treatment is required. But in general, medicines like Kanchnaar-Guggulu, Sukshma-Triphala, Manjishtha, Sunthi, Musta and Kutaj are used to treat the chronic variant of infection.

Medicines like Ashwagandha, Shatavari, Tulsi, Suvarna-Parpati are used to improve the whole immune status of the organism in order to get a faster medical response and prevent relapses.

Herbal ayurvedic medicines can necessarily be given to cure coccidioidomycosis in addition to modern anti-fungal treatment. The majority of patients that affected with the condition need to get long lasting medical attendance and a regular follow-up care no less than one to two years in order to corroborate a complete resorting of the disease.

Nowadays there are also a few online clinics and doctors who are ready to help, give you a qualified consultation and suggest treating your illness. Mostly, they use herbal medicines because they have a good reputation. Such herbal extracts are usually represented in the form of pills.

Moreover, these methods is said to be one of the safest ones.