Moving to AZ? Research on Valley Fever First (Phoenix, Scottsdale: relocation, rent)

[Ex-Arizonan]

I lived in Scottsdale for less than 2 years and left for Northern CA due to a job relocation. However, by coincidence at the time of the relocation, I found out about Valley Fever (which they also have in Central Valley California) being the cause of 60% of cases reported in the US in Phoenix metro area.

I don't have the disease (at least the X-ray and blood work showed negative) but know of a few. So do some research before moving to AZ.

http://www.valleyfeversurvivor.com/

[Bridgett]

What is Valley Fever? Please explain. I have lived in Phoenix for 6 months and this is the first I have heard of it.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Bridgett

What is Valley Fever? Please explain. I have lived in Phoenix for 6 months and this is the first I have heard of it.

It's a lung disease that comes from infection with a fungus that lives in the soil of the desert southwest. It can rarely be serious but most people who get it have no idea they did having no symptoms or old mild flu-like signs. There is a blood test you can have for anti-bodies. I had it myself at some point in my life as I test positive. They say almost everyone who has lived here for many years has been exposed. It is a threat for dogs, too, who get a more serious reaction although I have owned dogs here for many, many years and none ever had it that I know of.

[Azrider]

Its is not as bad as everyone has made it out to be on this forum in the past. Not saying it is good, but it is much less common then made out to be. Something like 1-2% of the patients that have it ever get symptoms. Cant remember how many people in the Phoenix area that become carriers or whatever, but its something like 5,000. Its the Southwest's influenza if you will. It not only affects AZ, but Utah, California, New Mexico, parts of Texas, basically any of the desert areas in the SW.

I have not had any symptoms at all living here 5 years. I have never been tested either. Both my pets have been tested and are ok.

[monsoon74]

This brings back memories, and not-so-good ones at that!

I moved here in May '84, and started working as a land surveyor. We were working in and around the Agua Fria river bottom. (For those of you NOT from AZ, our rivers rarely have any water in them, they're just a big sandy/rocky area for most of the year).

Anyways, I wasn't here more than two weeks, and got sick. Thought I had a touch of a summer flu at first, and figured a day off from work would get me back to normal. I was only 22, young, healthy, fit, and rarely got sick. Well, a week later I was so weak I couldn't get out of bed. Here I am, two weeks into moving here, already 110* outside, and I'm burning up with a fever that won't let up. I really thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life coming here. I sat in bed reading my road atlas, pondering my possible move to Oregon or Washington! Cool and green never sounded so good!

I learned a LOT about Valley Fever that week, and one thing I was told was that the virus lives in the sand. I don't know if that's a fact or not, but all I know was I was spending 8+ hours a day tromping around that riverbottom, and I had to get it somewhere.

[locoenlacabeza]

I have lived here my whole life, most of it in PHX where Valley Fever tends to be the most prominent and have honestly only known one person to have an active case of it. When I was little we did lose a dog to it though.
I agree with the poster that said that its not as bad as people make it out to be as far as the number of people who get it. I also agree that most people who spend a significant amount of time in the southwest will be exposed to it but rarely even know they have it.

[John Flanagan]

Great, valley fever, another thing to worry about, besides scorpions, rattlesnakes, flash floods, dust storms. The more I read about these things in the southwest, the more I appreciate New York. We just have crazy drivers, insane taxes, crime, and bad attitudes to deal with. Otherwise, you can still get a good bagel and a magnificent slice of pizza.

[Gretchen B]

I have a dear friend whose husband died from valley fever. He may have actually contracted in CA rather than Phoenix. It sounds like they didn't catch it in time and there was no way to treat it. A very long, painful death. I've heard that if it's diagnosed and treated soon after contracting it that it's usually treatable and not very serious at all.

[AZRiverRat]

It's a fungus. The spores live in the sandy soil, and when you inhale it, the moist lining of your lungs causes it to grow.

A couple we knew from Nevada had moved to Michigan, and came to visit us in AZ about 10 years ago.
The husband apparently contracted it when we went to Lake Mohave. He developed pneumonia-like symptoms, and a chest x-ray showed spots on his lungs that required surgery to remove.
Back then little was known about the disease, but there is now medication that can be used if the symptoms are bad enough.

[twiggy]

Yes, a couple of family members have had Valley Fever. Leaves a black spot on your lungs. You need to have the spot diagnosed so that they don't think you have cancer every time you get a chest x-ray. The dust storms that stir up the dust and bring it into the valley is why 1 in 33 people will contact the fungus. Everyone I have known with it got pretty sick for a couple of weeks. They didn't die of course but I would say it's more like having hep.A or a mono, it last longer than the flu, and stay's in your system forever like those illnesses. They can tell if you've had it years later. I don't know if this is done anymore but when we were kids they gave us a little skin test, if you got a bubble you had had it, if not you hadn't. It was part of your routine check up. I imagine it's like getting Lyme disease back east. Like I have said before though, you have to have thick skin and be a real positive person to live in Phoenix. Other wise, there is so much to worry about you'll go crazy. lol