Mystery disease brings home need for action

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Mystery disease brings home need for action

Jun. 8, 2009 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/06/08/20090608mo\

n1-08.html

When a mysterious disease puts a Major League Baseball player on the disabled

list, people tend to notice.

Conor has valley fever. The case took months to diagnose. There's no

cure or vaccine. The D-Backs outfielder, who has been too weak for workouts,

could spend the season recuperating.

The high-profile patient is spotlighting an overlooked disease that can cause

permanent disability, even death. 's case highlights the real mystery:

why we haven't launched an all-out assault on valley fever.

Coccidioidomycosis is caused by inhaling spores of a fungus in desert soil. It

isn't contagious and is little known outside the Southwest. But it's a plague in

Arizona. Six of 10 reported cases in the United States occur here. An estimated

30,000 Arizonans a year are infected. A few dozen die - 36 in 2007. Animals get

sick, too. Dogs are especially vulnerable.

Yet pathetically little money has gone into the improving the awareness,

diagnosis and treatment of valley fever. The total wouldn't pay the annual

salary of a mediocre relief pitcher.

The state's sole investment was $300,000 in fiscal 2008. It paid off in

statistics and the start of an educational program (one-third of doctors

surveyed had major gaps in their knowledge of how to recognize and treat valley

fever). But the funding didn't survive the budget crunch.

Now, the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona is

planning to create a network of providers skilled in managing the disease.

The initiative, called the Valley Fever Corridor Project, has raised a third of

the $60,000 budget for the coming fiscal year. Surely, Arizonans can come up

with the rest and drum up support for the rest of the five-year program.

Then, let's get serious about the bigger picture. Valley fever usually causes

nothing worse than flulike symptoms. But in 40 percent of cases, it turns ugly.

The infection can become a chronic, debilitating condition. The fungus can

spread to skin, bones, joints and, most dangerously, the brain.

People diagnosed in 2007 reported they missed an average of one month of work,

suffered symptoms for six months and had $86 million in hospital bills.

If the human misery isn't enough, the economics should galvanize us to fund the

fight against valley fever. Galgiani, head of UA's valley fever center, has

cobbled together funding for trials of a promising drug. Researchers are

developing better diagnostic methods. The hunt is on for a vaccine.

Funding is slow, but there's new promise. A group of Maricopa County residents

has organized fundraisers and plans a valley fever walk in November.

sdale-based Matrixx Initiatives, maker of Zicam products, recently donated

$5,000. It's an example that other companies should follow. Civic groups and

foundations should also pitch in.

The prescription for progress against valley fever is money.

Arizonans need to fill it.

Information: www.vfce.arizona.edu.