Health officials warning community about Valley Fever

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was on New Year's Day when Rob Purdie started feeling the symptoms of Valley Fever, which started out as a really bad headache.

"I went to a local urgent care and they said you have a sinus infection, take these antibiotics," he said. "Took the antibiotics, finished the antibiotics, didn't feel any better."

Purdie says he then went to several different urgent care facilities and within a month, he began to develop vision problems.

He then went to a hospital in Bakersfield, where a doctor did some tests.

"That's how they determined that I had Valley Fever that had become meningitis, which is the most severe form of Valley Fever," he said.

He was then quickly admitted to the hospital, where he stayed for five weeks.

"It was life-changing," Purdie said. "We are not the same people. My kids are not the same people."

Numbers from the California Department of Public Health show that in 2022, Fresno County saw 448 cases of Valley Fever. In Tulare County, there were 312. Kings County had 168. Merced County saw 69 cases. Madera County reported 51.

Anyone can catch Valley Fever.

Dr. Trinidad Solis, the Deputy Health officer with the Public Health Department, says there are certain groups at a higher risk.

"We have seen that individuals that are Black and Filipino are more at risk of developing severe disease," he said. "Scientists are still doing more research as to as to why that occurs."

Dr. Solis adds women who are pregnant or immuno-compromised people are also at risk.

But there are steps people can take to protect themselves.

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