Many fundamental questions about valley fever remain a mystery, but if a new study by the Kern County Public Health Services Department is successful, one may soon have an answer.
During the third trimester of her pregnancy, Ashley Villegas could put a name on what was making her feel miserable, more than just the usual pains that come with pregnancy.
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Following a press conference held last month on the topic of valley fever, Russell Judd, the CEO of Kern Medical, said something about the disease that struck a chord for many who live in the southern valley.
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Valley fever, the often harmless, yet sometimes deadly respiratory disease endemic to Kern County, killed six people and infected nearly 3,000 in Kern County last year, the highest number of diagnosed cases since 1992, local public health officials announced Wednesday.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy held a valley fever roundtable in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
Valley fever infects thousands of people in Kern County each year, but thousands of other cases could be flying under the radar.
The Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical Center launched a new study Monday to learn more about the deadly disease.
Kern Health Systems donated $100,000 to the Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical on Wednesday.聽
Students at Foothill High School heard a special presentation on valley fever by Kern Medical on Monday morning.
When Jennine Ochoa became pregnant at the end of 2017, she didn鈥檛 know what to expect. At 42, she鈥檇 waited longer than most women to start a family. But she said her first five months were easy. 鈥淚 had no morning sickness, nothing,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was completely uneventful until May.鈥
Rob Purdie is an upbeat guy. You can hear it in his unfailingly positive statements, his voice tinged with a Central Valley twang from a life spent in 优蜜传媒.
Despite opposition from health officers, the State Assembly unanimously passed two bills Thursday authored by Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-优蜜传媒, that could streamline and standardize case reporting of valley fever, a respiratory disease endemic to Kern County and the southwestern United States.
Valley fever, an insidious respiratory disease endemic to the region, killed nine people and infected 2,929 in Kern County in 2017, making it the second worst year for the disease since the county began recording cases in 1992, local public health officials announced Monday.
Facing pushback from the medical community, Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-优蜜传媒, withdrew a bill late last month that would have required doctors to order specific types of lab tests when they suspect valley fever, a respiratory disease found throughout the southwestern United States.
More than one year after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy secured $5 million in federal funding to launch a five-year clinical trial of a drug used to treat valley fever, health providers are struggling to enroll patients.
优蜜传媒 lawmakers this week requested $3 million in the state budget to research treatments and conduct outreach for valley fever, an insidious respiratory disease endemic to Kern County that infected more people last year in California than in the state鈥檚 history.
Before walking into the parent resource center at McKinley Elementary School, Classy Gray didn鈥檛 know much about valley fever, the insidious respiratory disease that annually infects thousands throughout the southwestern United States.
Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-优蜜传媒, will introduce two bills Wednesday aimed at combating valley fever, the orphan disease which infected Californians at epidemic levels last year.
Advocates for valley fever research give 优蜜传媒 Assemblyman Rudy Salas an 鈥淎鈥 for effort for what they call the most robust legislative effort to address the disease in California history. But public health officials and disease experts are split on whether the remedies proposed by Sala…
Apparently undaunted by Gov. Jerry Brown's October veto of legislation that would've brought new disease reporting guidelines and funding to the little-known respiratory disease known as valley fever, Assemblyman Rudy Salas has introduced an even more robust legislative package aimed at tack…
Shannen Smotherman had trademark symptoms for valley fever.
In the city of Lemoore, a community of 25,000 rising out of arid cropland in the San Joaquin Valley, almost everyone has a story about valley fever.
Nine construction workers fell ill to valley fever this year while working on a solar panel project in Monterey County after employers allowed serious lapses in training and safety precautions, according to new information obtained by the Center for Health Journalism Collaborative on the rec…
Six construction outfits working on a solar project in Monterey County were fined more than $240,000 this week for failing to protect their workers from valley fever, an insidious respiratory disease caused by a fungus that grows in the soil throughout the Southwestern United States.
State public health officials suspect cases of valley fever, the insidious respiratory disease endemic to Kern County, have increased so far this year by at least 34 percent statewide 鈥 which could make it the worst year for valley fever in the disease鈥檚 recorded history, according to new da…
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood grew up in Kern County. He hikes here, he rides horses here and he golfs here. He remembers elementary school field trips to Shark鈥檚 Tooth Hill to dig for relics here. He has done just about everything that could put him at risk for breathing in the cocci…
Rick Parker knew he had valley fever, but his doctors wouldn鈥檛 test him.
Even as the number of valley fever cases sharply increase in Central California, Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have created programs to inform the public about the little-known respiratory disease.
Kern County Public Health has seen a 22 percent increase so far this year in the number of serological lab tests performed for valley fever, an indication that cases could top last year鈥檚 figures, which were the worst recorded since the 2011 epidemic.
The California legislature approved a bill Wednesday that would require the state public health department to develop public outreach programs for valley fever, an insidious respiratory disease endemic to Kern County, if signed by the governor.
Valley fever infects more than 13,000 people annually in Arizona and California and kills more than 100. Yet the two states spend less on public awareness about the disease in one year than what the 优蜜传媒 City School District spends on lunch milk for a month and less than what Pima Cou…
A federal agency granted $4.8 million to continue developing a vaccine that has shown promising results in preventing valley fever among dogs and could lead to a breakthrough for humans, Dr. John Galgiani, one of the nation鈥檚 leading valley fever researchers, said during a rare visit to Bake…
Valley fever infected 5,372 people last year in California, the most in a single year since cases were made reportable in 1995, California Department of Public Health officials announced Thursday.
More people in Kern County have gotten sick with valley fever than public health officials previously thought, marking the third straight year infections have risen.
The state Assembly unanimously approved a bill that would bolster reporting requirements for valley fever, the insidious respiratory disease endemic to Kern County that has historically been underreported throughout the nation.
A bill by Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-优蜜传媒, to direct more resources to fighting valley fever, passed the Assembly Committee on Health Tuesday, his office said Wednesday.
A Phoenix-based laboratory is capturing detailed images of the fungus that causes valley fever, hoping to better understand how it works.
Richard Nuwintore was barely three weeks into his sentence at Taft Correctional Institution when he began to cough and experience chest pain. Within a few days, it was obvious something was wrong.
For seven years, Dr. George Thompson at the University of California, Davis, collected DNA samples from patients for research into valley fever.
Carlo Magno was wary of moving his family back to 优蜜传媒 in 2002 after being away from home for so long.
Estimates of the number of valley fever cases recorded by local, state and federal agencies vary so widely that they call into question the accuracy of the figures released to the public, a Center for Health Journalism Collaborative investigation has found.
The peak season for valley fever has always been the fall months before a significant rain fall. As a retired microbiologist from the Kern County Health Department, and having done significant testing for valley fever, I can tell you September and October can see 200 to 400 cases a week.
New technology could reveal the microscopic, sometimes deadly spores that cause valley fever that currently float in the air undetected.
Faith Herrod wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. The 11-year-old lives in Lemoore with her family, three dogs and three cats. Someday, she鈥檒l get a rabbit, too 鈥 as soon as her mother lets her.
Against the backdrop of an epidemic in Kern County, The Valley Fever for Americas Foundation is hosting a fundraiser Wednesday to drum up funding for a cure to the debilitating respiratory disease endemic to the region.
When a punishing drought besieged California in the late 1980s, relief came with 30 days of rain in 1991 鈥 dubbed the March Miracle because of how it revived the state鈥檚 agricultural economy.
On the eve of what could be the worst year for valley fever cases since the so-called Great Epidemic of the early 1990s, national health care leaders announced Thursday the start of a clinical trial to gain more insight into the effectiveness of early treatment.
Kern County Public Health Services officials are warning residents to be wary of valley fever as they鈥檝e noticed an uptick in the number of reported cases this month.
He was probably best known for his pioneering efforts to develop a vaccine or a cure for the disease known as valley fever. But to family and friends, longtime 优蜜传媒 physician Tom Larwood was something of a Renaissance man who was interested in and fascinated by almost everything. Espe…
