AN EPIDEMIC OF COCCIDIOIDAL INFECTION (COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS)

An epidemic of coccidioidal infection would have been inconceivable five years ago. Then the usually fatal coccidioidal granuloma was the only recognized form of infection by Coccidioides immitis. During 1936-1938 Gifford¹ and Dickson² proved that this fungus more frequently produces mild infections. Many of us are still conditioned by the former conception of coccidioidomycosis as a deadly disease. We hope that the record of this small epidemic will emphasize the frequency and usually benign character of coccidioidal infection in its endemic areas.

These endemic regions are, like the site of our small epidemic, semiarid with hot, dry and dusty summers and autumns. The most publicized is the San Joaquin Valley, the southern component of the great central valley, of California. Other parts of southern California, Arizona, Texas and probably New Mexico and Mexico are endemic centers. Sporadic cases have been reported elsewhere in North America and Europe. The