BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — In a press conference on Thursday, Kern County Public Health showcased a new campaign targeted at Valley Fever and stories from the Kern County community to provide hope to those who have the disease.
- 2024 was the worst year on record for Valley Fever cases in Kern County, prompting the new awareness initiative.
- The campaign features personal stories of those affected, highlighting the symptoms and challenges of the disease.
- Health officials recommend wearing N95 masks outdoors and keeping windows closed during windy and dusty conditions.
- There is currently no vaccine for Valley Fever, stressing the need for better prevention methods.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
According to Kern County Public Health, 2024 was the worst year for Valley Fever on record. I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter. Now public health is sharing stories of people who have contracted the disease in a new campaign called Faces of Valley Fever.
Valley Fever is caused by a fungus that lives all over dirt areas throughout Kern County, and if the wind kicks up spores of the fungus and they are breathed in, people can become sick with a variety of symptoms.
Brynn Carrigan, Director of Kern County Public Health, says she has no idea how she contracted the disease and she was diagnosed with a rare form of it called cocci-meningitis in May of 2024 after several trips to the doctor and very few answers.
"I just continued to progressively decline. And so that journey was a difficult one, and at times I felt like maybe, maybe it's in my head," said Carrigan. "Finally, it felt like somebody listened to me, that they valued what I was saying, and they knew that I knew something was wrong with my body. And when I listed out my symptoms, they said, it sounds like you have Cocci-meningitis. Let's do a spinal tap and get to the bottom of this."
Carrigan says while she'll have to deal with treatment for the rest of her life as a result, she hopes that the campaign will give those who are struggling with the various forms of the illness a resource to learn how the disease manifests, what treatment and recovery is like and to know that they're not alone.
Paul Rzucidlo, Assistant Division Director of Health Services for KCPH, recommends people wear N-95 masks when outside and keep the windows closed when inside on windy days, but aside from that, there's a limited amount of things you can do to be proactive about the disease.
"There's no way to get rid of the soil or to get rid of the fungus in the soil, and there's no vaccine or anything that we can do to prevent ourselves ahead of time. It's really dust exposure is the only thing we can do. And then, you know, monitoring for those symptoms."
With dust exposure being a key part of the problem, what does that mean for industries that work in the dust like farm and construction workers? Ruzcidlo says ground that hasn't been worked over for a while is a lot more susceptible to harboring the fungus than dirt that gets worked regularly.
"Where they see most growth when they find it is in those undisturbed soils. So you know, those fields that we haven't done anything within hundreds of years, and then they go and, you know, they do construction, or maybe they do expand the farm or something like that, but those are the real dangers of turning over dirt isn't that undisturbed soil," said Rzucidlo.
Dr. Carlos Alvarez has had a practice in Kern County for nearly 40 years, treating countless patients for Valley Fever during his time as a doctor, and while times have changed, the lack of a vaccine for the disease has not, something he says he would like to see change.
"If we have a vaccination, and many people are treated with this or inoculated with this vaccination, I think it will save a tremendous amount of people, their grief, their hardship. It can be devastating."
Carrigan also noted that while they do not have any Spanish interpretations of the campaign yet, they are currently seeking Kern County residents who speak Spanish to tell their stories as part of the campaign.
To learn more visit the Kern County public health website. I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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