Dataset Information

The Changing Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis in Los Angeles (LA) County, California, 1973-2011.

ABSTRACT: Coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley Fever, is often thought of as an endemic disease of central California exclusive of Los Angeles County. The fungus that causes Valley Fever, Coccidioides spp., grows in previously undisturbed soil of semi-arid and arid environments of certain areas of the Americas. LA County has a few large areas with such environments, particularly the Antelope Valley which has been having substantial land development. Coccidioidomycosis that is both clinically- and laboratory-confirmed is a mandated reportable disease in LA County. Population surveillance data for 1973-2011 reveals an annual rate increase from 0.87 to 3.2 cases per 100,000 population (n = 61 to 306 annual cases). In 2004, case frequency started substantially increasing with notable epidemiologic changes such as a rising 2.1 to 5.7 male-to-female case ratio stabilizing to 1.4-2.2. Additionally, new building construction in Antelope Valley greatly rose in 2003 and displayed a strong correlation (R = 0.92, Pearson p<0.0001) with overall LA County incidence rates for 1996-2007. Of the 24 LA County health districts, 19 had a 100%-1500% increase in cases when comparing 2000-2003 to 2008-2011. Case residents of endemic areas had stronger odds of local exposures, but cases from areas not known to be endemic had greater mortality (14% versus 9%) with notably more deaths during 2008-2011. Compared to the 57 other California counties during 2001-2011, LA County had the third highest average annual number of cases and Antelope Valley had a higher incidence rate than all but six counties. With the large number of reported coccidioidomycosis cases, multi-agency and community partnering is recommended to develop effective education and prevention strategies to protect residents and travelers.

SUBMITTER: Guevara RE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4551673 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Changing Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis in Los Angeles (LA) County, California, 1973-2011.

Guevara Ramon E RE Motala Tasneem T Terashita Dawn D

PloS one 20150827 8

Coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley Fever, is often thought of as an endemic disease of central California exclusive of Los Angeles County. The fungus that causes Valley Fever, Coccidioides spp., grows in previously undisturbed soil of semi-arid and arid environments of certain areas of the Americas. LA County has a few large areas with such environments, particularly the Antelope Valley which has been having substantial land development. Coccidioidomycosis that is both clinically- and labo ...[more]

PMID: 26313151

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceDescribing the changes in trauma volume and injury patterns during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could help to inform policy development and hospital resource planning.ObjectiveTo examine trends in trauma admissions throughout Los Angeles County (LAC) during the pandemic.Design, setting, and participantsIn this cohort study, all trauma admissions to the 15 verified level 1 and level 2 trauma centers in LAC from January 1 to June 7, 2020 were reviewed. All trauma admissions from the same period in 2019 were used as historical control. For overall admissions, the study period was divided into 3 intervals based on daily admission trend analysis (January 1 through February 28, March 1 through April 9, April 10 through June 7). For the blunt trauma subgroup analysis, the study period was divided into 3 similar intervals (January 1 through February 27, February 28 through April 5, April 6 through June 7).ExposuresCOVID-19 pandemic.Main outcomes and measuresTrends in trauma admission volume and injury patterns.ResultsA total of 6777 patients in 2020 and 6937 in 2019 met inclusion criteria. Of those admitted in 2020, the median (interquartile range) age was 42 (28-61) years and 5100 (75.3%) were men. Mechanisms of injury were significantly different between the 2 years, with a higher incidence of penetrating trauma and fewer blunt injuries in 2020 compared with 2019 (penetrating: 1065 [15.7%] vs 1065 [15.4%]; blunt: 5309 [78.3%] vs 5528 [79.7%]). Overall admissions by interval in 2020 were 2681, 1684, and 2412, whereas in 2019 they were 2462, 1862, and 2613, respectively. There was a significant increase in overall admissions per week during the first interval (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.02; 95% CI, 1.002-1.04; P = .03) followed by a decrease in the second interval (IRR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.90-0.94; P < .001) and, finally, an increase in the third interval (IRR, 1.05; CI, 1.03-1.07; P < .001). On subgroup analysis, blunt admissions followed a similar pattern to overall admissions, while penetrating admissions increased throughout the study period.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, trauma centers throughout LAC experienced a significant change in injury patterns and admission trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. A transient decrease in volume was followed by a quick return to baseline levels. Trauma centers should prioritize maintaining access, capacity, and functionality during pandemics and other national emergencies.

Project description:BackgroundChildren residing in communities near metalworking industries are vulnerable to multiple toxic metal exposures. Understanding biomarkers of exposure to multiple toxic metals is important to characterize cumulative burden and to distinguish potential exposure sources in such environmental justice neighborhoods impacted by industrial operations. Exposure to metal mixtures has not been well-characterized among children residing in the United States, and is understudied in communities of color.MethodsIn this study we used toenail clippings, a noninvasive biomarker, to assess exposure to arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), and vanadium (V). We used nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) to identify "source" signatures and patterns of exposure among predominantly working class Latinx children residing near an industrial corridor in Southeast Los Angeles County. Additionally, we investigated the association between participant demographic, spatial, and dietary characteristics with identified metal signatures.ResultsThrough NMF, we identified three groupings (source factors) for the metal concentrations in children's toenails. A grouping composed of Sb, Pb, As, and Cd, was identified as a potential industrial source factor, reflective of known airborne elemental emissions in the industrial corridor. We further identified a manganese source factor primarily composed of Mn, and a potential dietary source factor driven by Se and Hg. We observed differences in the industrial source factor by age of participants, while the dietary source factor varied by neighborhood.ConclusionUtilizing an unsupervised dimension reduction technique (NMF), we identified a "source signature" of contamination in toenail samples from children living near metalworking industry. Investigating patterns and sources of exposures in cumulatively burdened communities is necessary to identify appropriate public health interventions.

Dataset Information

The Changing Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis in Los Angeles (LA) County, California, 1973-2011.

Publications

The Changing Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis in Los Angeles (LA) County, California, 1973-2011.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets