Background.  Endocarditis is a rare manifestation of infection with Coccidioides. This is the first reported case of donor-derived Coccidioides endocarditis obtained from a heart transplant. Methods.  We present a unique case of donor-derived Coccidioides immitis endocarditis and disseminated infection in a heart transplant patient. We also conducted a review of the literature to identify other...

Coccidioidomycosis is an emerging fungal disease in Brazil; adequate maintenance and authentication of Coccidioides isolates are essential for research into genetic diversity of the environmental organisms, as well as for understanding the human disease. Seventeen Coccidioides isolates maintained under mineral oil since 1975 in the Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo (IMTSP) culture col...

Nevertheless, reducing dust is a reasonable risk-reduction strategy for addressing occupational coccidioidomycosis. On the basis of our findings, we recommended that prison management weigh the advantages and disadvantages of various environmental mitigation efforts to reduce dust exposures. Our recommendations included providing employees with education and training about coccidioidomycosis sy...

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is an infection caused by the coccidioides fungus. The spectrum of the disease ranges from a mild upper respiratory illness to severe disseminated infection that could affects the bones, joints, skin, central nervous system, and the gastrointestinal tract. Previous reports of a positive stool culture in the setting of disseminated CM are extremely rare. Herein, we descri...

Available methods for the diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis have significant shortcomings relative to accuracy and timeliness. We retrospectively and prospectively evaluated the diagnostic performance and reproducibility of a new cartridge-based real-time PCR assay for Coccidioides spp. directly in lower respiratory secretions and compared them to today's "gold standard," fungal culture. The Gene...

Fungal antigen testing in immunosuppressed patients has emerged as a powerful diagnostic tool. Some assays are relatively nonspecific, and misinterpretation can have severe clinical consequences. Additionally, when new assays become commercially available it is important to evaluate the potential for cross reactivity. We recently observed several immunosuppressed patients with positive (1→3)-β-...

Having reported that pretreatment of serum samples with EDTA at 100 degrees C improved the sensitivity for the detection of Histoplasma antigenemia, we have evaluated this method for the detection of Coccidioides antigenemia. Urine and serum samples from patients with coccidioidomycosis were tested using the MVista Coccidioides enzyme immunoassay, and serum samples with and without EDTA-heat tr...

Coccidioidomycosis consists of a spectrum of disease, ranging from a mild, self-limited, febrile illness to severe, life-threatening infection. It is caused by the soil-dwelling fungi, Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii, which are present in diverse endemic areas. Climate changes and environmental factors affect the Coccidioides lifecycle and influence infection rates. The incidence of cocci...

Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii are pathogenic, dimorphic, soil-dwelling Ascomycetes in the Onygenales order. On average, both Coccidioides species have 29 Mb haploid genomes, containing approximately 10,000 open reading frames (ORFs) on five chromosomes [1]. Coccidioides’most recent common ancestor underwent gene family expansions for proteases and keratinases, membrane biology genes, an...