Coccidioides immitis is a pathogenic species of onigenic fungi that lives in the soil. It occurs in some regions of the southwestern USA, northern Mexico, as well as in several other areas of the Western hemisphere [1] .
| Coccidioides immitis |
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| Scientific classification |
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| Kingdom : | Higher mushrooms |
| The Department: | Ascomycetes |
| Subdivision : | Pezizomycotina |
| Subclass : | Eurotiomycetidae |
| Gender: | Coccidioides immitis |
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| International scientific name |
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Coccidioides immitis GWStiles (1896) |
| Synonyms |
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- Zymonema immitis (GWStiles) Mello (1918)
- Mycoderma immite (GWStiles) Verdun & Mandoul (1924)
- Blastomycoides immitis (GWStiles) Castell. (1928)
- Geotrichum immite (GWStiles) A. Agostini (1932)
- Aleurisma immite (GWStiles) Bogliolo & JANeves (1952)
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C. immitis , along with the related species C. posadasii , [2] is found mainly in the desert regions of the southwestern USA, including certain regions of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah, in Central and South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela [3] .
C. immitis can cause a disease called coccidioidomycosis (Posada-Wernicke disease; California fever) [4] [5] [6] . The incubation period varies from 7 to 21 days [7] . Coccidioidomycosis is difficult to diagnose based on vital signs and symptoms that are usually fuzzy and nonspecific. Even chest x-ray or computed tomography cannot reliably distinguish it from other lung diseases, including lung cancer. For diagnosis, blood or urine tests are needed to detect coccidioid antigens. However, since the fungus creates a mass that can mimic a lung tumor, a tissue sample (biopsy) may be required for a correct diagnosis. In addition, the Grocott-Gomori silver methenamine color is used to confirm the presence of Coccidioides characteristic beads in the body.
