Скачать или смотреть A Case Study in Structural Racism and Urbanism: The Neglect of Valley Fever

Coccidioidomycosis, colloquially referred to as Valley Fever, affects residents in the southwestern United States, northern Mexico and areas of South America. An estimated 150,000 people in the United States become infected annually via inhalation of spores from the soil-dwelling fungi. This can lead to chronic lung infection, meningitis, or death. Southwestern states are experiencing among the highest incidence rates of coccidioidomycosis ever recorded. Large construction projects, such as the creation of solar farms, and earthquakes that disturb the soil increase risk of infection.

Administrative reviews of statewide hospitalization rates show that 25,000 individuals were admitted to the hospital in California between 2000-2011 with Valley Fever-associated issues, at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. While most cases resolve spontaneously, up to 40% are severe enough to require antifungal treatment and many spread beyond the lungs. No new treatments for coccidioidomycosis have been approved in the United States in nearly 40 years; the number of investigators studying the disease is very small and there is little pharmaceutical company interest in developing treatments. The fact that the areas most affected in California are also the poorest communities in the state, and home to the state’s prisons, may also have influenced the lack of attention to this disease. I explore the social, racial, and regional stratifications that inform its neglected status.

Nancy J. Burke is Professor of Public Health and Anthropology and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Endowed Chair, University of California, Merced. She also serves as Co-Director of the UC-Cuba Academic Initiative. Her current research includes projects focused on ageing in Cuba, politics and poverty in relation to Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) research, and the role(s) of community organizations in COVID-19 response in California’s Central Valley.