Bill Text: CA SCR7 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Valley Fever Awareness Month.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-07-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 125, Statutes of 2015. [SCR7 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SCR7-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: SCR 7	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  125
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 22, 2015
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 22, 2015
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 16, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Fuller

                        JANUARY 13, 2015

   Relative to Valley Fever Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 7, Fuller. Valley Fever Awareness Month.
   This measure would declare August 2015 as Valley Fever Awareness
Month.



   WHEREAS, Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis), a progressive,
multisymptom, respiratory disorder, is a debilitating disease; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever is caused by the inhalation of tiny airborne
fungi that live in the soil but are released into the air by soil
disturbance or wind; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever attacks the respiratory system, causing
infections that can lead to symptoms that resemble a cold, influenza,
or pneumonia; and
   WHEREAS, If left untreated or mistreated, infection can spread
from the lungs into the bloodstream, causing inflammation to the
skin, permanent damage to lung and bone tissue, and swelling of the
membrane surrounding the brain, leading to meningitis, which can be
devastating and even fatal; and
   WHEREAS, Once serious symptoms of Valley Fever appear, including
pneumonia and labored breathing, prompt treatment with often toxic
antifungal drugs must be given, which is especially disagreeable for
patients who require the drugs to be injected beneath the base of
their skulls for meningitis and which can cause side effects such as
nausea, fever, and kidney damage; 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, California does not have an official statewide method of
tracking the rate of Valley Fever infections; and
   WHEREAS, In the last 10 years, infection rates in California and
Arizona have risen 400 percent, from an estimated 31 cases for every
100,000 people in 1999 to 157 cases for every 100,000 people in 2011;
and
   WHEREAS, In Kern County, the rate of infection of Valley Fever
more than tripled from 2009, for a total of 2,051 cases in 2010 and
2,734 cases in 2011; and
   WHEREAS, San Joaquin County Public Health Services recorded 27
cases of Valley Fever in 2009, 46 cases in 2010, and 123 cases in
2011; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever infection rates rose twelvefold nationwide
from 1995 to 2009, according to the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and researchers estimate that the fungus
infects more than 150,000 people each year who either suffer serious
ailments without knowing the cause of their illness or escape
detection of the disease; and
   WHEREAS, Misdiagnosis of Valley Fever is so pervasive that experts
say that some people suffer and even die from Valley Fever without
knowing they ever had the disease; and
   WHEREAS, The Governor declared a Drought State of Emergency on
January 17, 2014, and California is experiencing record dry
conditions; and
   WHEREAS, Dry conditions and lack of precipitation present urgent
problems regarding Valley Fever; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever is usually found in soil two to eight inches
from the surface and the extreme dry conditions caused by drought
increase the chances of coccidioidomycosis airborne fungi exposure;
and
   WHEREAS, Central Valley prison inmates are being infected by
Valley Fever at epidemic rates, contributing significantly to the
state's prison health care costs; and
   WHEREAS, The rapid spread of Valley Fever at state prisons in the
Central Valley has resulted in multiple prison inmate deaths and
prompted calls to close certain affected prisons, further
exacerbating efforts to comply with federal orders to reduce prison
overcrowding; and
   WHEREAS, Valley Fever kills between 100 to 200 more Americans
every year 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, Valley Fever is a disease that has been studied for the
past 100 years but still remains impossible to control and difficult
to treat; and
   WHEREAS, There is no known cure for Valley Fever, but researchers
are closer than ever to finding a much-needed vaccine against this
devastating disease; and
   WHEREAS, The research effort to find a vaccine for Valley Fever
and a funding partnership including the State of California were
approved by the Legislature and signed by Governor Wilson in 1997;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature does hereby proclaim August
2015 as Valley Fever Awareness Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.