Also known as coccidioidomycosis, valley fever infections have increased in recent years. Endemic to the desert Southwest, valley fever is caused by the soil-dwelling fungus Coccidioides. Cocci are agitated by construction, drilling, plowing and land clearing, and disperse due to dry, hot and windy conditions. The spores can be inhaled and are capable of penetrating deep into the lungs. Valley fever cannot spread from person to person. Most people exposed to the fungus have symptoms but do not get sick. The signs – fever, cough and exhaustion – are difficult to distinguish from the flu and can last for weeks or even months. In people with weakened immune systems, infection can cause more serious conditions, such as meningitis or death. There is no vaccine for valley fever, and many members of the general public (including the medical community) have very little knowledge of the disease. This lack of knowledge has allowed many milder cases to go undiagnosed, leading to underreporting. Additionally, Valley Fever has not received enough research funding. Many milder cases go undiagnosed, which may mean that reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg. The increase could be due to: • More people exposed to the fungus due to increased travel or relocation to the southwest United States • Changes in how cases of valley fever are detected and reported to public health officials, or • Changes in factors such as temperature and precipitation, which can affect the growth of the fungus in the environment and how much circulates in the air. There is no vaccine to protect against it and, in the most serious cases, no cure. Phoenix's population has increased ten percent over the past decade... middle of paper ...... and as warming and development push deeper into uninhabited lands, the range of cocci is likely to increase. But other factors can also worsen its impact. With an increasing and longer number of transplant patients and a proliferation of indications for immunosuppressive drugs, researchers expect an acceleration in the number of life-threatening cases. “As we as a population become immunocompromised, we are at higher risk,” said Tom Chiller, a fungus expert at the CDC. Greater awareness of Valley Fever within the general community and among health care providers is needed. Increased awareness could help prevent missed diagnoses. For example, one study showed that valley fever patients who knew about the disease before seeing a doctor were more likely to seek testing and be diagnosed earlier than patients who did not know about the disease..