Alexa Lardieri US Deputy Health Editor Dailymail.Com
July 30, 2024 16:28, updated July 30, 2024 16:57
Thousands of people are popular California Music festival-goers have been warned they may have been exposed to a deadly fungus.
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Said The department is investigating a cluster of Valley Fever cases among attendees of the Lightning in a Bottle music festival, held May 21-25 in Buena Vista Lake.
More than 20,000 people attended the event, and five people have been diagnosed with valley fever, three of whom have been hospitalized.
Valley fever – the majority of cases Arizona And California A deadly infectious disease that kills 1 in 100 people Infected people.
It is caused by a fungus called Coccidioides, which becomes infected when spores are released into the air when the soil is disturbed and people breathe them in. It cannot be transmitted from person to person.
“It is possible that additional cases may occur associated with attendance at the outdoor festival,” CDPH said.
“Overall, valley fever cases in California have increased significantly over the past two years, so CDPH is urging attendees of the festival to complete a voluntary survey even if they do not have symptoms,” the agency added.
Authorities have not released any information about the patient, but a Reddit user has claimed to be a patient.
About 18 days after returning from the festival, they were hospitalized with a severe lung infection and experienced symptoms including fever, aches and coughs.
The user called Valley Fever “no joke” and said he has “a cavity (hole) in his right lung.”
Another user commented on the post, saying they too had Valley Fever and were “extremely sick.”
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One poster said her husband developed an infection that caused fluid to build up in his chest and around his lungs. Symptoms began on June 5 and he was hospitalized on June 12. He was eventually released from the hospital on July 1, but will continue to receive antifungal treatment for “many months.”
Several users said that due to the spread of the bacteria in the area and the dusty conditions at the event site, festival organizers should move the location in future.
Most people with a milder form of Valley Fever don’t know they have the disease because the symptoms — fatigue, cough, fever, muscle aches and shortness of breath — are similar to those of a respiratory viral infection.
Other symptoms include night sweats, joint pain and a red rash that usually appears on the legs but can also appear on the chest, arms and back.
Because there is no preventive vaccine for the disease, it is often overlooked by doctors or misdiagnosed as pneumonia.
But up to 10% of those infected will develop severe symptoms and take months to recover.
These cases are called disseminated coccidioidomycosis, and the disease can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain, skin and liver.
Infection of the membranes and fluids around the brain can cause life-threatening meningitis.
There is no proven treatment for valley fever, and patients are typically prescribed rest and therapy to manage symptoms.
Doctors may prescribe antifungal medications, but there is no evidence in clinical trials that these treatments are effective, and antifungal medications have the potential for serious side effects.
California health officials are urging people who visited the areas around the festival in Bakersfield and Kern County and are experiencing respiratory symptoms to see a doctor and get tested for Valley Fever.
“Please be sure to let them know if you are attending a music festival or traveling to Kern County, where there is a Valley Fever outbreak,” the department said.
Only five cases have been confirmed, but there may be more.
Mild fungal symptoms in people infected at the event two months ago may have already subsided, and others who are still experiencing symptoms may not have yet been diagnosed.
Valley fever cases reached a 10-year peak in 2021. The 20,970 cases recorded was the most recorded in a single year since the last peak in 2011.
The number of cases decreased in 2022, but increased again last year. Experts are concerned that the fungus is expected to grow exponentially in the coming decades.
The CDC estimates that valley fever could infect more than 500,000 Americans each year in the future.
The agency said rising global temperatures will likely push the disease northward to include drier western regions, and other experts fear the disease could be endemic in 17 states by 2100.
