Banner Urgent Care centers across Maricopa County have seen an increase in pneumonia patients testing positive for Valley fever over the last month.
Dr. John Galigiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona, said it has been a dry and dusty summer and those conditions raise the chances that people might inhale the tiny fungal spores that spread the infection.
Phoenix had two dust storms at the beginning of August that both ranked as rare Category 5 events on Arizona State University’s Phoenix Dust Scale — the highest level on the scale which measures concentrations of dust. This week, Phoenix had another dust storm that ranked as a Category 4.
“During the dust storms you might get somewhat of an increased risk of Valley fever, but it’s not just the dust storms,” Galgiani said…