Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection caused by the Coccidioides species, endemic to the southwestern United States. In healthy people, manifestations range mainly from asymptomatic to mild influenza-like signs, whereas in immunosuppressed patients (eg, transplant recipients) this infection is often a severe disseminated disease. We report a case of primary pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in a ...

Converse, J. L. (U.S. Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.), G. A. Deauville, E. M. Snyder, J. G. Ray, and M. E. Seaquist. Control of tissue reactions in monkeys vaccinated with viable Coccidioides immitis by prevaccination with killed Coccidioides immities. J. Bacteriol. 90:783-788. 1965.-Control of undesirable tissue reactions resulting from the subcutaneous injection of...

Conventional antifungal therapy was not successful for a critically ill patient who had been hospitalized for 137 days in the intensive care unit with disseminated Coccidioides immitis infection and respiratory failure. The addition of interferon- gamma to the therapeutic regimen resulted in improvement and discharge from the hospital. Adjunctive interferon- gamma used in the successful treatme...

Responding to a request by corrections agency management, we investigated coccidioidomycosis in prison employees in central California, a coccidioidomycosis-endemic area. We identified 103 cases of coccidioidomycosis that occurred over 4.5 years. As a result, we recommended training and other steps to reduce dust exposure among employees and thus potential exposure to Coccidioides.

A 21-year-old man had moved to Riverside County, California from Botswana at 7 years of age. He presented with B symptoms: intermittent fever, fatigue, and 20 kg weight loss progressive over 6 weeks. He had no relevant past medical history; his last trip to Africa was in 2002. On examination, he had axillary and inguinal lymphadenopathy; nodular skin ulcerations were present on the forehead, fi...

Subcutaneous vaccination with recombinant antigen 2/PRA (rAg2/PRA) protected BALB/c mice against intranasal infection with Coccidioides immitis. Subcutaneously vaccinated C57BL/6 mice and intranasally vaccinated BALB/c mice were protected against larger numbers of infecting spores. Weight loss correlated with lethality, but histologic appearance did not. These studies support rAg2/PRA vaccinati...