CONTAGIOUSNESS OF COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS

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Abstract
THIS study is directed toward a reconsideration of the issue regarding the contagiousness of coccidioidomycosis. With the high incidence of infection that occurred in large numbers of troops trained in such endemic areas as southern California, parts of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico and with subsequent demobilization, numerous soldiers harboring the fungus will return to all parts of the United States. For an accurate evaluation of contagiousness, the causative agent must be known in its various phases and the portal of entry of the causative agent must be well understood. CAUSATIVE AGENT AND PORTAL OF ENTRY A. Causative Agent (Coccidioides Immitis.). —The fungus responsible for the disease has two distinct phases in its development, as follows: In the animal host it is found as a refractile thick-walled spherule (fig. 1) filled with spores. The spores may be liberated by rupture of the wall of the cyst (fig. 2), whereupon

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