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valley fever

valley fever

1 6.5
A lung infection from breathing in fungus spores in dry dusty areas that causes cough, fever, and sometimes skin lumps
  • noun
  • /ˈvæli ˈfiːvər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fiebre del valle
  • Doctors diagnosed her with valley fever after she complained of severe breathing difficulties.
  • valley fever outbreak

Examples

  • HEY, I WOULDN'T WISH VALLEY FEVER ON A DESERT RAT.

  • CLIMAS work on valley fever, a debilitating and sometimes deadly disease found in the Southwest, demonstrated strong connections between climate conditions and the spread of spores from the soil-dwelling fungus (Coccidioides).

    Academic text (2005)
  • We thought so too, which is why we placed him on the max-dose drug regimen for valley fever.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Figure 1: Location of study sites tested for patients with confirmed Rift Valley fever, Mauritania, 2010.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Figure 2. Maximum-likelihood trees for the RNA A) small and B) medium segments of Rift Valley fever virus.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Table 3. Virologic results for mosquitoes tested during a Rift Valley fever outbreak, Mauritania, 2010.*

    Academic text (2014)
  • After careful quality control of the health data, the researchers used regression models to link precipitation conditions in the dry foresummer to valley fever outbreaks in windy periods up to 18 months later.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Attack rates and lethality of human Rift Valley fever cases, by region, sex, and age, southern Mauritania, November 2012. Arthropods collected during the investigation of the Rift Valley fever outbreak, by region, southern Mauritania, 2012.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Kenneth Linthicum, director of CMAVE, worked in Asia and Africa on mosquito-borne viruses like dengue and Rift Valley fever, and in the United States on West Nile virus.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Your patient's symptoms are similar to Arizona's so-called valley fever, coccidiomycosis, a mold that invades the lungs, gives a pneumonialike syndrome, and in the immunodeficient, can pop out on the skin and invade the brain.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

coccidioidomycosis
vsvalley fever
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An infection of the lungs by a fungus that causes cough, fever, and chest mucus and sometimes skin lumps

is the common everyday name rather than the technical medical term
desert rheumatism
vsvalley fever
  • Archaic
9.1

A lung and skin infection from a fungus in dry, dusty places

is the clinical term focusing on the fungal cause rather than the regional name
coccidiomycosis
vsvalley fever
  • Specialized
9.9

A lung and skin infection from a fungus in dry areas that causes cough and skin sores

is specific about the single fungus as the direct cause

Surface Forms

valley fever singular
valley fevers plural

Morphology

valley + fever

A B1 learner who knows 'valley' and 'fever' can readily infer this refers to an illness/fever associated with a particular geographic area (a valley). However, the specific medical causation (a fungal lung infection from Coccidioides) and clinical implications are lexicalized and not derivable from the parts alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Valley fever gets its name from dry valleys where wind stirs dust with tiny particles people breathe in, and the word fever points to the high temperature often seen in the illness. So, valley fever means 'a lung infection' people can catch from dust in certain valleys.