When Juan Solis shuffles out of his dark bedroom, he’s careful not to get too close to the windows because Solis has extreme light sensitivity caused by valley fever.
Health Equity & Social Justice
Valley fever infects more than 13,000 people annually in Arizona and California, killing more than 100. Yet they spend less annually on public awareness.
Even as valley fever cases sharply increase in Central California, Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation to create programs to inform the public about the little-known respiratory disease.
The workers fell ill earlier this year while working on a solar panel project in Monterey County after six employers allowed serious lapses in training and safety precautions.
In the city of Lemoore, a community of 25,000 rising out of arid cropland in California’s San Joaquin Valley, almost everyone has a story about valley fever.
Researchers say a new test for valley fever can return nearly 100 percent accurate results in under two hours. It’s a breakthrough for the orphan disease.
California Assemblyman Rudy Salas' introduced a new package of four bills on Monday that aim to boost valley fever awareness and treatment.
Advocates for valley fever research give California Assemblyman Rudy Salas an “A” for effort for the "most robust" legislative effort to address the disease in state history.
Just 48 people have signed up across California and Arizona for a new clinical trial of Fluconazole, an antifungal drug used to treat valley fever. That's far fewer than officials had expected.
