Fever Ray - 03 - Dry And Dusty ((EXCLUSIVE))
Two coccidioides fungi species cause valley fever. These fungi are commonly found in soil in specific regions. The fungi's spores can be stirred into the air by anything that disrupts the soil, such as farming, construction and wind.
Fever Ray - 03 - Dry and Dusty
People can then breathe the fungi into their lungs. The fungi can cause valley fever, also known as acute coccidioidomycosis (kok-sid-e-oy-doh-my-KOH-sis). Mild cases of valley fever usually resolve on their own. In more-severe cases, doctors treat the infection with antifungal medications.
If you don't become ill or have symptoms from valley fever, you may only find out you've been infected later. You may find out when you have a positive skin or blood test or when small areas of residual infection in the lungs (nodules) show up on a routine chest X-ray. The nodules typically don't cause problems, but they can look like cancer on X-rays.
The symptoms of viral pneumonia usually develop over a period of several days. Early symptoms are similar to influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Within a day or two, the symptoms typically get worse, with increasing cough, shortness of breath and muscle pain. There may be a high fever and there may be blueness of the lips.
Symptoms may vary in certain populations. Newborns and infants may not show any signs of the infection. Or, they may vomit, have a fever and cough, or appear restless, sick, or tired and without energy. Older adults and people who have serious illnesses or weak immune systems may have fewer and milder symptoms. They may even have a lower than normal temperature. Older adults who have pneumonia sometimes have sudden changes in mental awareness. For individuals that already have a chronic lung disease, those symptoms may worsen.
If you think you or your child has symptoms of pneumonia, don't wait for the disease to get even worse before you seek care. Call your doctor. And see your doctor right away if you have difficulty breathing, develop a bluish color in your lips and fingertips, have chest pain, a high fever, or a cough with mucus that is severe or is getting worse.
Valley fever, a fungal infection most notably found in the Southwestern United States, is now likely to spread east, throughout the Great Plains and even north to the Canadian border because of climate change, according to a study in GeoHealth.
Symptoms of valley fever may appear anywhere from one to three weeks after breathing in the fungal spores and typically last for a few weeks to a few months. About 5% to 10% of people who get valley fever will develop serious or long-term lung problems. Symptoms include:
People who are at higher risk for becoming severely ill, such as those with weakened immune systems, pregnant people, people with diabetes, and Black or Filipino people, are advised to avoid breathing in large amounts of dust if they live in or are traveling to places where valley fever is common.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and affects approximately 34 million Americans. Asthma has a strong genetic component and often runs in families. Individuals with allergic conditions such as food allergies, eczema and hay fever are at increased risk for the development of asthma as are individuals who have immediate family members with asthma. For reasons that are not completely clear, the incidence of asthma and other allergic diseases has been steadily rising over the past several decades.
This inflammation prevents the esophagus from functioning normally and leads to symptoms. EE commonly occurs in people with other allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma and/or eczema.
It is important to understand that VMR is a nonspecific response to virtually any change or impurity in the air, as opposed to allergic rhinitis (or hay fever), which involves a response to a specific protein in pollen, dust, mold, or animal dander.
In Africa, each of the pathways linking climate to health has long been a study concern. Initially, this work was largely motivated by the tremendous health challenges faced by Europeans residing in the African colonies. Detailed records were kept of disease outbreaks along the Gold Coast (current Guinea Coast), for example. A connection was made between the seasons and disease occurrence. Medically, the tropical year was considered to have three divisions: diarrheal/dysenteric, fevers/malaria, and congestive and pulmonary. The first coincided with the hottest months and was considered to be relatively healthy. Despite considerable physical adaptations of the body to the excessive heat, fever was generally rare. The second, coinciding with the rainy season, was considered the unhealthiest, although heavy rains could diminish the occurrence of malaria by disrupting the stagnation of surface waters where mosquitoes breed. The third division, that of the northeast Harmattan winds of the cold season, also brought healthy conditions as well as a frequent break from the heat. However, dust and cold lead to congestive and pulmonary problems. Modern study of climate and disease in Africa goes well beyond consideration of the seasonality of disease and physiological adaptations. Links between year-to-year frequency of certain diseases and changes in climate have been established, as have predictive models of disease.
A number of arboviruses transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes are present in Africa and are of global concern, including dengue, yellow fever, zika, and chikungunya. Within Africa, however, the health burden of severe dengue cases is poorly characterized (Jaenisch et al., 2014). This could well be due to underreporting, but it is also possible that disease ecology or human genetics have acted to limit its impact (Sierra, Kouri, & Guzmán, 2007). Like dengue, chikungunya and zika are transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Both originated in Africa and are of great concern owing to their rapid spread into other parts of the world. Some projections suggest that Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus ranges in Africa could expand under climate change (Campbell et al., 2015), and urbanization is a risk factor for any disease transmitted by the urban-dwelling Aedes mosquitoes. However, before one can draw conclusions about potential changes due to climate change, more must be learned about the present climate sensitivity of dengue, zika, and chikungunya in Africa. 041b061a72