How common is Valley Fever?

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I just moved to the Peoria area and my husband plans on joining me soon. Someone just told me about Valley Fever I've been a nurse for 15 years never heard of it until yesterday. Here is the problem my husband is immunosuppresed and I'm wondering if I should even bring him. Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

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Thank you. I did some research online that is a good site. Have you taken care of anyone with this disease?

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Specializes in ICU, Research, Corrections.

Valley fever - MayoClinic.com

This is a good website also. I had it as a child - but I don't want to share

since the info will be taken as giving medical advice.

I have only seen one case of disseminated Valley fever and have lived

here pretty close to 45 years.

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Thanks. I understand about not giving medical advise got a call into my husbands Dr right now. She can't talk to me about him I know but I'm going to see if she'll talk to me about an immunosupressed person going to AZ.

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not but I've been a nurse for 15 years and never heard of it. Just want to know nurses clinical experience with the disease.

Thank you for the website I got in touch with UofA in Touson today and of course they couldn't tell me anything except it is common here and its in the soil fungus etc.

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.

Nurse for 1 year.

Currently have 2 of 40 pts with a recent history of it, have never personally had a patient with active VF, several suspected though. 1 case of active on the same unit as me once.

Really depends on the demographics of your pts I guess and where in the valley you are.

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Strange fact-dogs can get valley fever, too, and i have actually known of a couple cases in both dogs and people. From what I understand, not much is known about disease d/t very limited geographical span of it-not much research or interest in it except regional. I've lived in the Sonoran desert for over a decade and have not personally had any problems with the disease. I may or may not have been exposed to it. Reactions to exposure vary wildly in both symptoms and severity, therefore I believe it's difficult to pinpoint how common it actually is. Very mysterious disease.

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Hi, my wife and I have lived in Az since 1984. My wife had valley fever 2 times before she was dx with valley fever by a pulm. doc. She has had it a total of 6 times and had her right upper lobe removed in 2001 as that was the only way to rid her lung of valley fever. This post is not to scare anyone but just to point out how severe valley fever can be. My wife is fine today and valley fever free. By the way valley fever is an oppertunistic disease that affects people with depressed immune systems. Everyone in this area breaths the spores in and out daily. It only will affect someone who has a suppressed immune system, either acute or chronic.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

my understanding of valley fever (from personal experience as well as what we've learned in nursing school) is that the spores are airborne and if you have lived here for longer than a month, you have been exposed. in some people it causes allergy like symptoms and that is the extent, in others the fungus will grow in the lungs and cause health problems. i know someone who has asthma and comes down with a bad case of valley fever every year in the late spring. also, when my family moved here when i was a child, we lost both our cat and dog to valley fever.

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