Welcome
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) is a mycotic infection increasingly important to physicians and veterinarians well beyond its endemic regions. This symposium marks the fiftieth year of the existence of the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group and it is fitting that we mark the progress that has been made over the past half century.
The Symposium objective is to comprehensively address the biology, pathology, therapy, and prevention of coccidioidomycosis. This includes topics in molecular biology and genetics, immunology, epidemiology, occupational health, and a variety of medical, surgical, and clinical laboratory specialties both in human and veterinary medicine, and antifungal therapeutics and drug development. The program will be relevant to physicians, veterinarians, biologists in a wide variety of fields, public health professionals, and pharmaceutical development teams. Special emphasis will be placed on making the Symposium available to students.
Program Highlights
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Workshops for diagnostic laboratory, biocontainment, and security methods and procedures. |
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Plenary sessions for state-of-the-art reviews of clinical and research topics. |
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Poster sessions and oral presentations for free paper-presentations. |
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Separate lectures for people interested in the field but not that fully familiar with it. |
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Social events for informal discussions with colleagues and investigators. |
Objectives
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Introduce persons not currently familiar with coccidioidomycosis to this area of medical mycology so that in the future they might either better manage patients with this disease or might actively engage in coccidioidal research. |
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Present recent epidemiology of coccidioidomycosis in the United States and elsewhere in the western hemisphere and how these trends have impacted public health for special populations. |
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Identify special types of infections in which recent advances have changed our understanding and management. Examples include immunocompromised hosts, infections during childhood and pregnancy, and veterinary aspects. |
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Provide a detailed description of how infected patients should best be managed in light of new antifungal drugs, new diagnostic imaging tools, and advances in surgical techniques. |
Needs assesment
Coccidioides spp. (Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii) are primary fungal pathogens which can cause life-threatening disease in otherwise healthy humans. Even self-limited disease can be associated with considerable morbidity and attendant economic or medical care costs (1). Inhalation of a single spore (arthroconidium) is sufficient to cause a lethal infection (2), and this degree of infectivity was responsible, in part, for the U.S. AMRIID and the Soviet Union development programs of Coccidioides spp. as biological weapons (3). Coccidioides spp. are considered emerging pathogens because of several recent demographic and political trends.
Explosive growth within the endemic regions, especially in retirement communities, has resulted in an increase in the number of infections. The estimated number of US infections is 150,000 per year of which approximately a third produce a clinically significant illness. Coccidioidomycosis is Arizona’s most frequently reported non-sexually transmitted disease and fourth most frequently reported overall (4). The number of reported cases in Arizona for 2004 to date exceeds all previous years. |
