CA SCR154

Declares August 2018 as Valley Fever Awareness Month in California

Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) is a progressive respiratory disease caused by inhaling airborne fungi from soil that can lead to severe complications including meningitis and death if untreated

California reported 5,121 provisional cases of Valley Fever from January to October 2017, a significant increase of 1,294 cases compared to the same period in 2016

Valley Fever infection rates in California rose more than 600 percent between 1999 and 2011 (from 939 to 5,697 cases), with particularly severe impacts on prison inmates, young people, elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and those of African American and Filipino descent

No cure currently exists for Valley Fever, though researchers are developing a vaccine with support from a California state-approved funding partnership established in 1997