Additional side effects with all antifungal medications may occur. The length of treatment depends on the severity of symptoms and disease and complications of the disease. Usually the body is able to fight the fungus and recover without medication. If the immune system is compromised, it is unable to control the infection and allows the infection to spread from the lungs to other organs. The spread of infection from the lungs to other parts of the body is called dissemination.
Dissemination is the spread of the fungal infection from the lungs to other parts of the body.
The most common sites of dissemination in Valley Fever are skin, bones, joints and brain meninges. Cocci meningitis is the most lethal. While there is no racial or gender differences in susceptibility or who contracts the primary infection, there are differences in risk of dissemination. Men have a higher rate of dissemination than women. African Americans and Filipinos have several times higher rate of dissemination in the U.S. Native Americans, Hispanics and Asians may also have a higher rate of dissemination than the general public.