A popular TikTok influencer has revealed that she's been diagnosed with the deadly fungal infection Valley Fever, after visiting her parents in Arizona in September.
Speaking in a clip posted in December, which has attracted more than 500,000 views, Susi Vidal explains how the disease gave her a full body rash, disabling fatigue, a tight chest and a 'stabbing sharp pain that would randomly come into my side'.
The condition, which is increasingly prevalent in the US, is caused by the inhalation of spores from the fungus Coccidioides.
The spores are released into the atmosphere when the soil is disturbed - which is why the infection surge has been linked to rising temperatures across the globe.
While the fungus was previously only found in dry, western patches of the country, it is spreading fast.
Experts fear that the infection - which can lead to meningitis - could be endemic in 17 states by 2100.
@susi.vidalDont even get me started on the headaches and brain fog… i cant focus longer than 1 minute🙃 HAHA Valley Fever is no joke im so drained
♬ original sound - Susi
TikTok influencer Susi Vidal has revealed the collection of worrying symptoms that arose from her Valley Fever infection - including nasty rashes and chest pain
Susi Vidal, who has 3.6 million followers on TikTok - where she posts examples of healthy recipes - told followers that she originally mistook the condition for worsening depression.
'I think I got it in September. I've been living in Michigan, and I'm from Arizona,' she said. 'I visited my family in September.
'My symptoms started off as just severe fatigue, and I just thought it was my depression because I literally could not get out of bed.
'I upped my therapy...and therapy was basically the only thing I could do. I had zero explanation for any of my symptoms.'
Susi goes on to explain that her doctor in Michigan could not figure out what was wrong.
Valley Fever is thought to affect at least 20,000 Americans every year and, in worse case scenarios, can cause deadly meningitis
'Then I broke out in this rash all over...I broke out in this rash all over my stomach all over... it looks like ringworm.'
The rash began with a little patch before spreading all over the content creator's body.
Other symptoms she suffered include a dry cough, a tight throat which 'felt like I was wearing a turtle neck 24/7', and a stabbing pain in her side a couple of times a day.
'And then when we went to Florida I went to urgent care in Florida. I literally couldn't do anything there. I literally slept the entire time,' she says.
'They thought my rash was hives so they gave me a steroid shot in my butt.'
When this didn't work, Susi returned to doctors in Arizona who conducted a series of blood tests, as well as scans of her chest - before eventually diagnosing Valley Fever.
'It's basically a fungal infection in my lungs that I inhaled from dirt in Arizona. It's found in the dirt and soil there.'
The infection was dubbed Valley Fever because 97 percent of cases are found in Arizona and California
The prescribed treatment is anti-fungal medication, which Susi says she believes is helping to reduce the severity of her rash.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 20,000 cases of Valley Fever were reported in 2019.
When humans or animals breathe in the spores, they travel through the respiratory tract and into the lungs, where they reproduce, causing further disease.
Most infections are mild and clear up on their own within a few days or weeks, and the infection cannot be passed between people or animals.
Symptoms — fatigue, cough, fever, aching muscles and breathlessness — mimic those of a respiratory virus infection, so they are easy to mistake for something else.
Other symptoms include night sweats, joint aches and a red rash, usually on the legs but occasionally on the chest, arms and back.
But up to ten percent of cases become severe and take months to recover from.
In these cases, known as disseminated coccidioidomycosis, the disease can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain, skin and liver.
If it infects the membranes and fluid around the brain, it can cause meningitis.
In 2019, a study published in the journal GeoHealth predicted that, due to climate change, the endemic region of the fungus will spread north to include dry western states such as Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaK%2BVobmvsdKsZK6rX5a%2FtbXCpZxmaWJugHp9lGxmraGbqbysedKuqqJlpp6xoriMnZyanJyueqfBzaCYpWWZo7Omr9Oipqdlppa5rbHYZp2erpWne6nAzKU%3D