Kern Public Health Director Brynn Carrigan sharing her own personal experience on having Valley Fever.
The Kern County Public Health Department held a press conference Thursday morning to inform the public tips on how to prevent catching Valley Fever and shared the recent data regarding Valley Fever in Kern County.
Kern Public Health’s epidemiologist, Paul Rzucidlo explained Valley Fever is a disease caused by fungi and genus Coccidioides. An infection that occurs when a person inhales the spores of fungus.
“The fungus lives in the soil throughout Kern County and can be suspended in the air when soil is disturbed. It is more commonly found in undisturbed soil, or soil associated with a lot of rodent activity,” Rzucidlo said.
Valley fever cannot be spread from person to person, it can only be picked up from the environment, Rzucidlo said. Which is too small to see with the naked eye and breathing in the tiny spores can make anyone sick.
As of July 25, Kern Public Health updated their Valley Fever page which is separate by additional demographics and shares the overview of the number of cases and deaths caused by the disease.
According to Rzucidlo, studies have shown that heavy rainfall after a drought causes increased cases of Valley Fever for the last two years.
In 2023, Rzucidlo said Kern County reported 3,153 cases of Valley Fever. Which is nearly a 24% increase from the cases reported in 2022. It is also the second highest number of cases on record, second only to 2019, which had 3,487 cases. Rzucidlo said this increase is likely due to the intense rainfall that occurred in the 2022-2023 rain season.
Kern Public Health’s Health Officer Dr. Kridtopher Lyon said about 60% of people who are infected by the disease are asymptomatic or have minimal symptoms.
“When people do have fungus, they will typically occur about 7-21 days after they’ve had a cough,” Lyon explained.
He explained when people develop infections outside of the lungs, in the skin, the joints, the spine or the vertebrae, blood or spinal fluid, it is considered “disdominative.” Which means it spreads to other parts of the body. “This can happen within weeks to months of their initial exposure,” he said.
Kern Public Health Director Brynn Carrigan shared her own personal experience on having Valley Fever.
“Over 3,000 Kern County residents whose lives have been impacted by Valley Fever, many of whom I hope only had minor symptoms that have hopefully since resolved, but through my own personal experience. I know this is not the case in all of them,” said Carrigan.
Carrigan said April and May of 2024 are months she will never get back.
“There are the two months that I spent really sort of sick with Valley Fever. I spent all of April sick and not knowing what was wrong with me and nearly all of May fighting off the infection and recovering from the damage that it had inflicted on my body,” Carrigan shared.
Carrigan said in early April she started struggling with progressively worsening persistent headaches. What started as discomfort then became completely debilitating, throbbing, sharp pains all over her head and in her eyes. She then became extremely sensitive to light and eventually lost her zero appetite.
“As the month went on, the severity of my headaches had progressed to a point that I couldn’t even function anymore,” she said.
Carrigan said the illness started to affect her ability to care for her family and took sick days from work which she said is unlike her. She became weak by doing simple tasks so she started seeking health care.
“Over the next week, I bounced between primary care, urgent care, and hospital emergency rooms, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was given various explanations from tension headaches to having a virus and being dehydrated. Navigating through the healthcare system and scheduling appointments for necessary scans and blood work takes time, and that was time that I did not have as my health was continuing, continuing to rapidly decline,” she said
After admitting to the hospital she learned she had meningitis; an infection and inflammation of the fluid surrounding her brain and spinal cord.
“I knew I was sick, but I was shocked to hear how sick I really was,” Carrigan said.
After finding out what type of infection caused her meningitis, she was diagnosed with cocci meningitis. A rare form of bowel fever that took root in her spine and brain instead of her respiratory system, she explained.
“A disease that is 100% fatal if left untreated. A disease that has no cure. A disease that will remain in my body for the rest of my life,” Carrigan said.
Carrigan now depends on daily medication to keep her disease at bay and to keep her alive.
Carrigam said she knows that she needs to use her own experience to help others and hopes her story will encourage Kern County residents to advocate for their own health.
To help prevent Valley Fever Kern Public Health advises people to not go outside if it’s windy or dusty. If someone is driving through a windstorm, they should turn their car aircon recirculation so that they won’t get the outdoor air inside. And if someone is sensitive to the air they recommend that people wear respiratory protection.
For more information and resources on Valley Fever visit the Kern Public Health website.
