Greater than 20,000 attendees on the California Lightning in a Bottle music pageant might have been uncovered to a harmful fungal sickness.
The California Division of Public Well being (CDPH) is investigating 5 instances of Valley fever that occurred amongst individuals who traveled by Kern County to attend the Could 22-27 at Buena Vista Lake, close to the town of Bakersfield.
To date, three folks have been hospitalized, however further instances linked to attendance on the pageant are doable, authorities mentioned to the Fox Weather channel, which first reported the story.
Valley fever signs embrace cough, fever, fatigue, problem respiratory, and chest ache. There are about 200 deaths a 12 months as a result of illness. The illness shouldn’t be contagious and may’t unfold from human to human.
“These are largely folks with extreme immunocompromising diseases underlying this an infection,” mentioned Dr. Brad Perkins, chief medical officer at Karius, an organization that gives superior diagnostics for infectious illnesses. “It may be a devastating an infection in these folks. That’s fairly uncommon, thankfully.”
Lightning in a Bottle attendees share particulars about any sickness on the CDPH Valley fever survey web site.
The infectious illness is attributable to the Coccidioides fungus that grows within the soil and grime in some areas of California.
“Whereas most individuals uncovered to this fungus don’t develop Valley fever, the fungus can infect the lungs and trigger respiratory signs, together with cough, problem respiratory, fever, and tiredness or fatigue,” the CDPH reviews.
Previous Valley fever outbreaks have been linked to inhaling mud and grime at outside occasions in sure components of California the place Valley fever is frequent.
