Bill Text: CA ACR48 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Valley Fever Awareness Week.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 13-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-11 - Referred to Com. on RLS. [ACR48 Detail]

Download: California-2011-ACR48-Introduced.html

---

BILL NUMBER: ACR 48	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Grove
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway,
Donnelly, Garrick, Harkey, Jeffries, Miller, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, and Olsen)

                        APRIL 7, 2011

   Relative to Valley Fever Awareness Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 48, as introduced, Grove. Valley Fever Awareness Week.
   This measure would declare April 10 through April 16, 2011, as
Valley Fever Awareness Week.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis), a progressive,
multisymptom, respiratory disorder, is an orphan disease and has been
ignored by the pharmaceutical industry; and
   WHEREAS, It is caused by the inhalation of tiny airborne fungi,
which grow in the soil primarily in the southwest portion of North
America, that are released into the air by soil disturbance or wind;
and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever attacks the respiratory system, causing
infection that can lead to symptoms that resemble a cold, influenza,
or severe pneumonia; and
   WHEREAS, Left untreated or mistreated, infection can spread from
the lungs into the bloodstream, causing inflammation to the skin,
permanent damage to the lungs and bone tissue, and swelling of the
membrane surrounding the brain, leading to meningitis, which can be
devastating and even fatal; and
   WHEREAS, Approximately 20 percent of the population of the United
States lives in or next to endemic areas and a significant percentage
travel to an endemic area every year; and
   WHEREAS, Within California alone, Valley Fever is found in
portions of the Sacramento Valley, all of the San Joaquin Valley,
desert regions, and portions of southern California; and
   WHEREAS, An estimated 150,000 infections occur every year in the
United States; and
   WHEREAS, Chronic and disseminated forms of Valley Fever cause
significant morbidity, take months to years to resolve, and result in
medical costs that average $30,000 per year per case; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever kills an estimated 200 to 300 Americans
every year, which is more than tuberculosis; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever most seriously affects the young, the
elderly, those with lowered immune systems, and those of African
American and Filipino descent; and
   WHEREAS, Dr. Hans E. Einstein is the foremost authority on Valley
Fever. After his residency at Kern General Hospital in Bakersfield,
California, where he currently resides, he became the assistant
medical director of the Kern County tuberculosis sanitarium in Keene.
While he was there, he discovered that some patients had Valley
Fever rather than tuberculosis. Dr. Einstein has since devoted
decades to developing a vaccine for the potentially fatal airborne
disease; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature does hereby declare April 10
through April 16, 2011, as Valley Fever Awareness Week; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.