EPIDEMIOLOGY OF COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS
Background: Clinical Description
The disease causing agent, Coccioides spp., causes a wide range of illness, but these illness are mostly determined by the hosts' defenses, inoculum size and possibly specific organism virulence. Most of the clinical infections (about 60%) show few or no respiratory symptoms. However, the rest 40% may show symptoms of illness that may either be acute or sub-acute. The illness could range from progressive pneumonia to flu-like conditions. Misdiagnosis usually occurs in self-limited community-acquired pneumonia. According to Saubolle, McKeller & Sussland (2007), only 29% of 56 people who had community-acquired pneumonia were diagnosed of coccidioidomycosis. The exact ...
