Researchers Optimistic on Valley Fever

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Researchers Optimistic on Valley Fever

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN 12.19.06, 8:48 PM ET

Forbes - NY

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/12/19/ap3269967.html

Cautious optimism is building over the prospect of defeating the

respiratory disease known as valley fever, largely because of $40

million in grants that will be used toward vaccine testing.

A measure sponsored by Rep. Bill , R-Calif., authorizing a $40

million research grant program toward development of a vaccine for

the often-debilitating disorder was approved earlier this month. It

was included in a larger tax and health care package that President

Bush is expected to sign Wednesday.

Assuming Congress actually appropriates the money, researchers say

it boosts confidence that both a preventative vaccine and a medicine

that can cure those who've already contracted the illness will be

developed within a decade.

Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, is a relatively obscure disease

caused by inhaling the spores of a fungus found in the U.S.

Southwest and northwestern Mexico and California's Central Valley.

An estimated 130,000 people are exposed each year, but less than

half develop symptoms that lead to diagnosis and only about 10

percent require treatment.

Those sickened by the disease can suffer debilitating lung, bone and

neurological illnesses, and deaths are not uncommon. Arizona, with

about two-thirds of all cases, reported 33 deaths in 2005.

The legislation has come at a critical time, said of

the Valley Fever Vaccine Project at the University of California,

San Francisco.

" We are very close to finishing the research component, but now we

need to transition into actual pharmaceutical development, which can

be expensive, but which is not the type of development that the

National Institutes of Health will support, " said , the

project director. For nearly 10 years, it has been funded

principally through about $15 million provided by the state of

California.

Researchers are looking at two different classes of vaccines to

prevent infection and will soon choose one to move into full

development.

Four drugs are now used to treat valley fever but none kills the

fungus. Most people recover on their own but the fungus remains in

the body and illness can recur.

The University of Arizona acquired a drug called nikkomycin z in

2005 from a bankrupt manufacturer that shows promise in killing the

valley fever fungus, said Dr. Galgiani, director of the Valley

Fever Center for Excellence, co-sponsored by the University of

Arizona and the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System. It kills the

fungus in mice and has been through an initial safety trial in

humans.

Galgiani hopes to conduct a second-phase safety trial next summer,

using nearly $1 million received from the National Institutes of

Health. If successful, a full trial could follow.

had already secured $900,000 for valley fever vaccine

research and development in 2003 and 2005. Kern County, in the

center of ' district, is a hot spot for the disease.

If appropriated, the $40 million in grants likely would be stretched

out over a period of years, focusing on vaccine research.

Larson, executive director of the Valley Fever Americas

Foundation, in the Bakersfield, Calif., area, said that the grants

would be allocated for the most deserving research. The grants would

be coordinated to achieve the greatest progress as quickly as

possible.

Most valley fever cases occur in Arizona, with about 3,500 cases

diagnosed in 2005 and more than 5,000 cases likely in 2006, said

Will Humble, bureau chief for infectious diseases with the Arizona

Department of Health Services.

Despite that, Arizona has not appropriated any money for the

research consortium. Humble's staff is working with the Valley Fever

Center for Excellence in Tucson to try to find a manufacturer for

nikkomycin z.

A small amount of state money has gone to training doctors to

diagnose valley fever, and the Arizona Legislature may be asked to

help with funding, Humble said.

In addition to California, Arizona and northern Mexico, valley fever

is found in New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas.