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California droughts may help valley fever spread

Cases of the dangerous fungal infection spike after rains return

An illustration shows Coccidioides fungi as chains of rectangular cells

In California, cases of valley fever, a disease caused by Coccidioides fungi (illustrated), tend to spike in the years following the end of a drought period, a new study suggests.

Stephanie Rossow, MSMI

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

Long dry spells can give a lethal fungal disease a lift.

While California droughts can temporarily keep cases of valley fever — a sometimes deadly illness caused by Coccidioides fungi — relatively low, cases skyrocket when rain clouds move back in, researchers report in the October Lancet Regional Health — Americas.