coccidioidomycosis
noun
coc·cid·i·oi·do·my·co·sis
(ˌ)käk-ˌsi-dē-ˌȯi-dō-(ˌ)mī-ˈkō-səs 
: a disease especially of humans and domestic animals that is caused by inhalation of spores from either of two fungi (Coccidioides immitis or C. posadasii) found in dry soils of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Central America and that may be asymptomatic or present as a mild to serious flu-like illness marked chiefly by fever, cough, sore throat, headache, fatigue, and pneumonia but sometimes becoming disseminated beyond the lungs especially to the skin, bones, joints, and meninges resulting in painful lesions, swollen joints, or meningitis
called also cocci, San Joaquin fever, San Joaquin valley fever, valley fever
Examples of coccidioidomycosis in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to state health officials, 19 others were diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis in the weeks and months following the event.
—
Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2024
Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, is not contagious and cannot spread person-to-person.
—Carma Hassan, CNN, 6 Sep. 2024
The flooding caused by intensifying winter rainstorms in California is helping to spread a deadly fungal disease called coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever.
—Zoya Teirstein, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2024
In California, diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis (also called Valley fever) rose 800 percent between 2000 and 2018.
—Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 25 Aug. 2023
This probably was coccidioidomycosis.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
If inhaled, the organisms could end up in the lungs and cause a pneumonia called, variously, coccidioidomycosis or desert rheumatism or Valley fever.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
Blastomycosis was a much more serious disease than coccidioidomycosis, requiring significantly longer treatment.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
Valley fever is a fungal infection, known by its scientific name, coccidioidomycosis.
—Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 29 Apr. 2022
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Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2024
Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, is not contagious and cannot spread person-to-person.
—Carma Hassan, CNN, 6 Sep. 2024
The flooding caused by intensifying winter rainstorms in California is helping to spread a deadly fungal disease called coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever.
—Zoya Teirstein, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2024
In California, diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis (also called Valley fever) rose 800 percent between 2000 and 2018.
—Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 25 Aug. 2023
This probably was coccidioidomycosis.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
If inhaled, the organisms could end up in the lungs and cause a pneumonia called, variously, coccidioidomycosis or desert rheumatism or Valley fever.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
Blastomycosis was a much more serious disease than coccidioidomycosis, requiring significantly longer treatment.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022
Valley fever is a fungal infection, known by its scientific name, coccidioidomycosis.
—Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 29 Apr. 2022
Dictionary Entries Near coccidioidomycosis
Cite this Entry
“Coccidioidomycosis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coccidioidomycosis. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
coccidioidomycosis
noun
coc·cid·i·oi·do·my·co·sis
(ˌ)käk-ˌsid-ē-ˌȯid-ō-(ˌ)mī-ˈkō-səs
variants
also coccidiomycosis
plural coccidioidomycoses
-ˌsēz
: a disease of humans and domestic animals that is caused by inhalation of arthroconidia from either of two fungi of the genus Coccidioides (Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii) found in dry soils of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Central America and that may be asymptomatic or present as a mild to serious flu-like illness marked chiefly by fever, cough, sore throat, headache, fatigue, and pneumonia but sometimes becoming disseminated beyond the lungs especially to the skin, bones, joints, and meninges resulting in painful lesions, swollen joints, or meningitis
Early symptoms of the disease, which is clinically known as coccidioidomycosis, mimic the flu, with symptoms that include a cough, lethargy, and fever, most of those who become infected recover with little or no treatment and are subsequently immune. In about 2 percent to 3 percent of the cases, the disease spreads from the lungs and can attack the bones, liver, spleen, and skin.—Jesse McKinley, The Boston Globe
Jesse McKinley, The Boston GlobeCoccidioidomycosis is transmitted through inhalation of the sporelike arthroconidia, which is easily aerosolized when dry soil is disturbed. In Arizona, the peak incidence of disease occurs during the hot, dry summer months and again in October when a dry spell follows late-summer rains.—William A. Kormos et al., The New England Journal of Medicine
William A. Kormos et al., The New England Journal of Medicinecalled also cocci, San Joaquin fever, San Joaquin valley fever, valley fever
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