Acute
Chronic Valley Fever
Complications of Valley Fever
Many people who are exposed to the fungus never have symptoms. Other people may have flu-like symptoms that can appear between 1-3 weeks after exposure, including:
The symptoms of Valley Fever can be similar to those of other common illnesses, so patients may have delays in getting diagnosed and treated. For many people, symptoms will go away without any treatment, after weeks or months. Healthcare providers prescribe antifungal medication for some people to try to reduce symptoms or prevent the infection from getting worse. People who have severe lung infections or infections that have spread to other parts of the body always need antifungal treatment and may need to stay in the hospital.
Anyone who lives in or travels to an area where the fungus lives in the environment can get Valley Fever. Valley Fever can affect people of any age, but it’s most common in adults ages 60 and older.
Complications of Valley Fever
Healthcare providers rely on your medical and travel history, symptoms, physical examinations, and laboratory tests to diagnose Valley Fever. The most common way that healthcare providers test for Valley Fever is by taking a blood sample and sending it to a laboratory to look for Coccidioides antibodies or antigens.
Healthcare providers may do imaging tests such as chest x-rays or CT scans of your lungs to look for Valley Fever. They may also perform a tissue biopsy, in which a small sample of tissue is taken from the body and examined under a microscope. Laboratories may also see if Coccidioides will grow from body fluids or tissues (this is called a culture).
Any healthcare provider can order a test for Valley Fever.
It depends on the type of test. Results from a blood test will usually be available in a few days. If your healthcare provider sends a sample to a laboratory to be cultured, the results could take a few days to a couple of weeks.
A skin test can detect whether you have developed an immune response to the fungus Coccidioides, the cause of Valley Fever. The test involves getting a small injection on the inside of your forearm, similar to a skin test for tuberculosis. If the test is positive, a bump will appear at the injection site. A healthcare provider must examine the injection site two days (48 hours) after the test was given to measure the size of the bump.
A positive test result means that you have an immune response to Coccidioides because of a past or current Coccidioides infection. Some people with a positive test result have been sick with Valley Fever, which can cause a flu-like illness and other symptoms, but many people with a positive test have not had symptoms from the infection. A positive skin test generally means that you are immune to Coccidioides and will not get Valley fever in the future.
A negative skin test can mean that you have not been exposed to Coccidioides and have not had Valley Fever. However, some people may not react to the skin test even though they have had a Coccidioides infection. This is called a false-negative result. False-negative results occur more commonly in people who:
For more information about testing for Valley Fever, please contact the Kern Medical Valley Fever Institute at 661.706.6748.