Re: Valley fever often misdiagnosed

[Guest guest]

-thanks kc, this is a great example of the problems we are dealing

with. theres so many illnesses we could be misdiagnosed with when the

whole picture has not been looked at. when doctors dont take the time

for multiple tests or to really listen to theri patients. or when

they plain dont know what mold can do, but dont refer us to a

specialest, which at the least they should know. thanks again for

being here for us

all.

-- In

, " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

>

> Valley fever often misdiagnosed

> Porterville Recorder - Porterville,CA

>

> By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder

>

> http://myopr.com/articles/2006/09/08/news/local_state/news3.txt

>

> Oleta Copass was 45 the first time she contracted valley fever, but

> the disease was misdiagnosed as tuberculosis.

>

> " She was coughing up blood, so they put her in a TB ward in

> Springville, in a treatment center they had there back then, " said

> her daughter, Derinda Goodson. " While she was there, after about a

> week they did another test and discovered she didn't have TB. They

> quickly moved her out of there. Another doctor examined her, I

can't

> remember his name, and he said `I think it could be this thing

> called valley fever.' That's exactly what she had. It made lesions

> on her lungs. "

>

> Twenty-one years later, in 1985, Copass became sick again. A skin

> test was performed on her and again doctors told her she did not

> have valley fever. It could be pneumonia, or cancer, she was told.

>

> The 66-year-old told her attending physicians she was sure she had

> the insidious disease, according to Goodson, a special education

> instructional assistant at Porterville High School.

>

> X-rays were taken. Pneumonia was fingered as the culprit. Cancer

ran

> a close second, doctors said. Finally, Copass' culture samples were

> transferred to the University of California Los Angeles Medical

> Center.

>

> " The results came back saying she had valley fever of the lungs, "

> Goodson said, " but by this time she'd been in the hospital for a

> month. The doctor said the treatment itself would be too much

> because she was so weak. "

>

> A few months later, Copass succumbed to valley fever and died. She

> was 67.

>

> Medical Advances Not Enough

>

> Valley fever's official name is Coccidioidomycosis, Cocci

> (pronounced i) for short. It is caused by Coccidioides immitis,

a

> fungus that grows in the ground as mold. Spores from the fungus are

> carried by the wind, when they are unearthed by soil disturbance.

> Earthquakes send the microscopic spores flying. So does

construction

> work and farming.

>

> Unsuspecting victims inhale the potentially lethal spores into

their

> lungs, where they incubate for seven to 21 days before symptoms

> begin to manifest. It is not contagious; one human cannot get it

> from another.

>

> Medical science persists in its advancements in conjunction with

> 21st-century technology, yet valley fever remains difficult to

> detect.

>

> The reasons are many, according to Dr. Owen Kim, S. Good

> Cancer Treatment Center medical director.

>

> " Radiographically, or in X-ray, valley fever can look really like

> cancer, " Kim said. " I think misdiagnosis sometimes comes from

> parochial chauvinism. For example, if you're an admiral you think

> the Navy is important in fighting a war. If you're in the Air Force

> you think planes are important to war. As doctors, first and

> foremost, you look for something related to your area of expertise.

> It's a form of parochial chauvinism. "

>

> Dr. Debrah Ann Hanks, pathologist and president of Premier

Pathology

> Laboratories, Inc., agrees that the reasons are many and varied.

>

> " As an infectious disease, valley fever is part of the inflammatory

> infectious process, " Hanks said. " That means it causes the body to

> have the kind of general reaction that can happen with other

> infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, and it can resemble

them.

> That makes it hard to decipher at first. "

>

> She was asked why testing for valley fever is not part of the

normal

> physical exam process, since it is so prevalent in the Valley.

>

> " It's somewhat of an expensive process to go through, " Hanks

> said. " We don't automatically test for TB, for example. And people

> who live here have a variety of reactions to it. Some may get

> exposed and not become infected, so their systems actually make

> antibodies against it. You can get an immunity to it by living

> around it.

>

> " Then there are people who have a mild infection and think it's

> something else. And then there are people who find out they have it

> and get treated. Worse is when people don't go to the doctor and

> they have the symptoms - fatigue, cough, weight loss. "

>

> Those same symptoms can indicate colds, flu or pneumonia.

>

> In severe cases, valley fever can disseminate into the bones and

> joints; painful ulcer-like sores form on the legs, arms and other

> parts of the body.

>

> The Nickname

>

> Cocci got the moniker " valley fever " not because it's found in or

> named after the San Joaquin Valley, as many believe. It is so named

> because the organism that causes it is so common in Southwest

region

> of the country, in Mexico and Central and South America, according

> Larson, executive director of Valley Fever Americas

> Foundation.

>

> Like the San Joaquin, many of those areas house their own valley-

> like terrain.

>

> " Even sea otters get valley fever, " Larson said. " The spores are so

> light they float out into the ocean. They autopsy every sea otter

> they find, and many die from valley fever. It's not named for the

> San Joaquin Valley. Per capita, Arizona has more cases of valley

> fever. "

>

> This summer, Rep. Bill , R-Bakersfield, introduced HR 5416, a

> piece of legislation that asks for $45 million to fund vaccine

> research for valley fever. It made it to committee for review, but

> no further thus far.

>

> As pervasive as valley fever is, blacks and Asians are more likely

> to contract to the disease than Caucasians. That statistical enigma

> continues to have the medical community scratching its collective

> head, according to infectious disease consultant and specialist Dr.

> Boken.

>

> Two years ago, in a discussion regarding how valley fever affects

> diverse ethnic groups, Boken said there is no known answer.

>

> " We know African Americans and Asians are affected more, " he

> said. " We just don't know why. Study after study has been done, but

> they haven't produced a satisfactory answer to that question. "

>

> Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or

astackhouse-

> hite@...

>

> This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Sept. 7,

> 2006

>

[Guest guest]

i think it would be beneficial for people to know that the organism which causes

valley fever is often navy in color.

who <jeaninem660@...> wrote: -thanks kc, this is a great

example of the problems we are dealing

with. theres so many illnesses we could be misdiagnosed with when the

whole picture has not been looked at. when doctors dont take the time

for multiple tests or to really listen to theri patients. or when

they plain dont know what mold can do, but dont refer us to a

specialest, which at the least they should know. thanks again for

being here for us

all.

-- In

, " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

>

> Valley fever often misdiagnosed

> Porterville Recorder - Porterville,CA

>

> By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder

>

> http://myopr.com/articles/2006/09/08/news/local_state/news3.txt

>

> Oleta Copass was 45 the first time she contracted valley fever, but

> the disease was misdiagnosed as tuberculosis.

>

> " She was coughing up blood, so they put her in a TB ward in

> Springville, in a treatment center they had there back then, " said

> her daughter, Derinda Goodson. " While she was there, after about a

> week they did another test and discovered she didn't have TB. They

> quickly moved her out of there. Another doctor examined her, I

can't

> remember his name, and he said `I think it could be this thing

> called valley fever.' That's exactly what she had. It made lesions

> on her lungs. "

>

> Twenty-one years later, in 1985, Copass became sick again. A skin

> test was performed on her and again doctors told her she did not

> have valley fever. It could be pneumonia, or cancer, she was told.

>

> The 66-year-old told her attending physicians she was sure she had

> the insidious disease, according to Goodson, a special education

> instructional assistant at Porterville High School.

>

> X-rays were taken. Pneumonia was fingered as the culprit. Cancer

ran

> a close second, doctors said. Finally, Copass' culture samples were

> transferred to the University of California Los Angeles Medical

> Center.

>

> " The results came back saying she had valley fever of the lungs, "

> Goodson said, " but by this time she'd been in the hospital for a

> month. The doctor said the treatment itself would be too much

> because she was so weak. "

>

> A few months later, Copass succumbed to valley fever and died. She

> was 67.

>

> Medical Advances Not Enough

>

> Valley fever's official name is Coccidioidomycosis, Cocci

> (pronounced i) for short. It is caused by Coccidioides immitis,

a

> fungus that grows in the ground as mold. Spores from the fungus are

> carried by the wind, when they are unearthed by soil disturbance.

> Earthquakes send the microscopic spores flying. So does

construction

> work and farming.

>

> Unsuspecting victims inhale the potentially lethal spores into

their

> lungs, where they incubate for seven to 21 days before symptoms

> begin to manifest. It is not contagious; one human cannot get it

> from another.

>

> Medical science persists in its advancements in conjunction with

> 21st-century technology, yet valley fever remains difficult to

> detect.

>

> The reasons are many, according to Dr. Owen Kim, S. Good

> Cancer Treatment Center medical director.

>

> " Radiographically, or in X-ray, valley fever can look really like

> cancer, " Kim said. " I think misdiagnosis sometimes comes from

> parochial chauvinism. For example, if you're an admiral you think

> the Navy is important in fighting a war. If you're in the Air Force

> you think planes are important to war. As doctors, first and

> foremost, you look for something related to your area of expertise.

> It's a form of parochial chauvinism. "

>

> Dr. Debrah Ann Hanks, pathologist and president of Premier

Pathology

> Laboratories, Inc., agrees that the reasons are many and varied.

>

> " As an infectious disease, valley fever is part of the inflammatory

> infectious process, " Hanks said. " That means it causes the body to

> have the kind of general reaction that can happen with other

> infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, and it can resemble

them.

> That makes it hard to decipher at first. "

>

> She was asked why testing for valley fever is not part of the

normal

> physical exam process, since it is so prevalent in the Valley.

>

> " It's somewhat of an expensive process to go through, " Hanks

> said. " We don't automatically test for TB, for example. And people

> who live here have a variety of reactions to it. Some may get

> exposed and not become infected, so their systems actually make

> antibodies against it. You can get an immunity to it by living

> around it.

>

> " Then there are people who have a mild infection and think it's

> something else. And then there are people who find out they have it

> and get treated. Worse is when people don't go to the doctor and

> they have the symptoms - fatigue, cough, weight loss. "

>

> Those same symptoms can indicate colds, flu or pneumonia.

>

> In severe cases, valley fever can disseminate into the bones and

> joints; painful ulcer-like sores form on the legs, arms and other

> parts of the body.

>

> The Nickname

>

> Cocci got the moniker " valley fever " not because it's found in or

> named after the San Joaquin Valley, as many believe. It is so named

> because the organism that causes it is so common in Southwest

region

> of the country, in Mexico and Central and South America, according

> Larson, executive director of Valley Fever Americas

> Foundation.

>

> Like the San Joaquin, many of those areas house their own valley-

> like terrain.

>

> " Even sea otters get valley fever, " Larson said. " The spores are so

> light they float out into the ocean. They autopsy every sea otter

> they find, and many die from valley fever. It's not named for the

> San Joaquin Valley. Per capita, Arizona has more cases of valley

> fever. "

>

> This summer, Rep. Bill , R-Bakersfield, introduced HR 5416, a

> piece of legislation that asks for $45 million to fund vaccine

> research for valley fever. It made it to committee for review, but

> no further thus far.

>

> As pervasive as valley fever is, blacks and Asians are more likely

> to contract to the disease than Caucasians. That statistical enigma

> continues to have the medical community scratching its collective

> head, according to infectious disease consultant and specialist Dr.

> Boken.

>

> Two years ago, in a discussion regarding how valley fever affects

> diverse ethnic groups, Boken said there is no known answer.

>

> " We know African Americans and Asians are affected more, " he

> said. " We just don't know why. Study after study has been done, but

> they haven't produced a satisfactory answer to that question. "

>

> Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or

astackhouse-

> hite@...

>

> This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Sept. 7,

> 2006

>

[Guest guest]

i am going to get myself tested for valley fever. i looked it up and it is

often navy in color--something navy was in my old sytem. why do doctors assume

you are crazy if you remain ill??? why don't they think outside their pathetic

little boxes???

who <jeaninem660@...> wrote: -thanks kc, this is a great

example of the problems we are dealing

with. theres so many illnesses we could be misdiagnosed with when the

whole picture has not been looked at. when doctors dont take the time

for multiple tests or to really listen to theri patients. or when

they plain dont know what mold can do, but dont refer us to a

specialest, which at the least they should know. thanks again for

being here for us

all.

-- In

, " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

>

> Valley fever often misdiagnosed

> Porterville Recorder - Porterville,CA

>

> By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder

>

> http://myopr.com/articles/2006/09/08/news/local_state/news3.txt

>

> Oleta Copass was 45 the first time she contracted valley fever, but

> the disease was misdiagnosed as tuberculosis.

>

> " She was coughing up blood, so they put her in a TB ward in

> Springville, in a treatment center they had there back then, " said

> her daughter, Derinda Goodson. " While she was there, after about a

> week they did another test and discovered she didn't have TB. They

> quickly moved her out of there. Another doctor examined her, I

can't

> remember his name, and he said `I think it could be this thing

> called valley fever.' That's exactly what she had. It made lesions

> on her lungs. "

>

> Twenty-one years later, in 1985, Copass became sick again. A skin

> test was performed on her and again doctors told her she did not

> have valley fever. It could be pneumonia, or cancer, she was told.

>

> The 66-year-old told her attending physicians she was sure she had

> the insidious disease, according to Goodson, a special education

> instructional assistant at Porterville High School.

>

> X-rays were taken. Pneumonia was fingered as the culprit. Cancer

ran

> a close second, doctors said. Finally, Copass' culture samples were

> transferred to the University of California Los Angeles Medical

> Center.

>

> " The results came back saying she had valley fever of the lungs, "

> Goodson said, " but by this time she'd been in the hospital for a

> month. The doctor said the treatment itself would be too much

> because she was so weak. "

>

> A few months later, Copass succumbed to valley fever and died. She

> was 67.

>

> Medical Advances Not Enough

>

> Valley fever's official name is Coccidioidomycosis, Cocci

> (pronounced i) for short. It is caused by Coccidioides immitis,

a

> fungus that grows in the ground as mold. Spores from the fungus are

> carried by the wind, when they are unearthed by soil disturbance.

> Earthquakes send the microscopic spores flying. So does

construction

> work and farming.

>

> Unsuspecting victims inhale the potentially lethal spores into

their

> lungs, where they incubate for seven to 21 days before symptoms

> begin to manifest. It is not contagious; one human cannot get it

> from another.

>

> Medical science persists in its advancements in conjunction with

> 21st-century technology, yet valley fever remains difficult to

> detect.

>

> The reasons are many, according to Dr. Owen Kim, S. Good

> Cancer Treatment Center medical director.

>

> " Radiographically, or in X-ray, valley fever can look really like

> cancer, " Kim said. " I think misdiagnosis sometimes comes from

> parochial chauvinism. For example, if you're an admiral you think

> the Navy is important in fighting a war. If you're in the Air Force

> you think planes are important to war. As doctors, first and

> foremost, you look for something related to your area of expertise.

> It's a form of parochial chauvinism. "

>

> Dr. Debrah Ann Hanks, pathologist and president of Premier

Pathology

> Laboratories, Inc., agrees that the reasons are many and varied.

>

> " As an infectious disease, valley fever is part of the inflammatory

> infectious process, " Hanks said. " That means it causes the body to

> have the kind of general reaction that can happen with other

> infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, and it can resemble

them.

> That makes it hard to decipher at first. "

>

> She was asked why testing for valley fever is not part of the

normal

> physical exam process, since it is so prevalent in the Valley.

>

> " It's somewhat of an expensive process to go through, " Hanks

> said. " We don't automatically test for TB, for example. And people

> who live here have a variety of reactions to it. Some may get

> exposed and not become infected, so their systems actually make

> antibodies against it. You can get an immunity to it by living

> around it.

>

> " Then there are people who have a mild infection and think it's

> something else. And then there are people who find out they have it

> and get treated. Worse is when people don't go to the doctor and

> they have the symptoms - fatigue, cough, weight loss. "

>

> Those same symptoms can indicate colds, flu or pneumonia.

>

> In severe cases, valley fever can disseminate into the bones and

> joints; painful ulcer-like sores form on the legs, arms and other

> parts of the body.

>

> The Nickname

>

> Cocci got the moniker " valley fever " not because it's found in or

> named after the San Joaquin Valley, as many believe. It is so named

> because the organism that causes it is so common in Southwest

region

> of the country, in Mexico and Central and South America, according

> Larson, executive director of Valley Fever Americas

> Foundation.

>

> Like the San Joaquin, many of those areas house their own valley-

> like terrain.

>

> " Even sea otters get valley fever, " Larson said. " The spores are so

> light they float out into the ocean. They autopsy every sea otter

> they find, and many die from valley fever. It's not named for the

> San Joaquin Valley. Per capita, Arizona has more cases of valley

> fever. "

>

> This summer, Rep. Bill , R-Bakersfield, introduced HR 5416, a

> piece of legislation that asks for $45 million to fund vaccine

> research for valley fever. It made it to committee for review, but

> no further thus far.

>

> As pervasive as valley fever is, blacks and Asians are more likely

> to contract to the disease than Caucasians. That statistical enigma

> continues to have the medical community scratching its collective

> head, according to infectious disease consultant and specialist Dr.

> Boken.

>

> Two years ago, in a discussion regarding how valley fever affects

> diverse ethnic groups, Boken said there is no known answer.

>

> " We know African Americans and Asians are affected more, " he

> said. " We just don't know why. Study after study has been done, but

> they haven't produced a satisfactory answer to that question. "

>

> Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or

astackhouse-

> hite@...

>

> This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Sept. 7,

> 2006

>