Banner Urgent Care implements new technology to detect Valley fever earlier in patients

With the spring season upon us and low chances of rain until mid-summer, Banner Health experts are warning that Valley fever cases are likely to rise. 

To get ahead of serious cases, Banner Urgent Care facilities have implemented a new Valley fever dashboard included in electronic health records, which gives medical experts real-time information about Valley fever activity in Arizona, especially in Maricopa and Pima County. Information includes important data from Banner Urgent Care clinics to show medical providers the percentage of individuals in the Banner Health network who have tested positive for the disease, as well as symptoms. 

“Valley fever is an infection caused by breathing in spores of fungus found here in the Arizona soil,” says Robert Johns, DO, medical director of Banner Urgent Care Services. “Valley fever can occur all year round but is especially likely when the ground dries out and those fungus spores get into the air. It’s endemic to the southwestern United States.”

Dr. Johns explains that severity in Valley fever infections range from mild to severe – most people start with symptoms of fever, fatigue, cough, chest pain, rash, and joint pain – and many people can recover without medical intervention. When the disease progresses, however, that’s when it becomes more serious, and those symptoms include acute respiratory failure, lung nodules, lung cavities, and infections beyond the lungs like meningitis.

“We’ve worked closely with Dr. John Galgiani, the director of the Valley Fever Center at Banner – University Medical Center, to better determine urgent care patients that may need to be tested for Valley fever, especially those who don’t have respiratory symptoms,” Dr. Johns said. 

Right now, Banner Urgent Care is implementing a process that will test all patients with pneumonia for Valley fever, unless another cause has been determined. Providers also look at the other common infection symptoms to determine whether to test.  

“About half of all Valley fever diagnoses in Banner Urgent Care are made in patients who don’t technically have clear cut pneumonia,” notes Dr. Galgiani, who’s also a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and Phoenix and founding director of the UArizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, established in 1996.

“That means other patients with more vague symptoms of persistent fatigue, respiratory symptoms, arthralgias, and rashes might also be good candidates for Valley fever testing.” 

Dr. Galgiani expects a paper to be published soon on information related to the BUCS dashboard that was presented at the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group’s 68th Annual Meeting earlier this month in San Antonio. Illustrated in the presentation are ways the dashboard improved tracking of cases of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to coccidioidomycosis (CM) infections, or Valley fever, which is caused by inhaled Coccidioides fungal spores versus bacteria or viral causes of pneumonia. See his presentation here.

“We started out doing little reminders every three months and, still, three out of four or four out of five cases weren’t getting tested,” he said. “So, last year, we figured if we had a dashboard to point it out more frequently as symptoms arose that would offer a better repetitious but friendly service.”

He and his research partners continue to monitor data to improve testing and more quickly identify Valley fever cases so they can be treated more effectively with antifungal rather than antibiotic medicine, which is not effective, before more serious symptoms appear.

The Valley fever dashboard is another tool that helps Banner Urgent Care providers focus on the Valley fever landscape, understand its prevalence in the area, and determine when spikes in cases are happening. 

Dr. Johns says that patients who develop a certain pneumonia from Valley fever, if not treated appropriately, can progress to hospitalization, ventilation, and/or surgery to remove part of the lung.

“We want to get ahead of that to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone,” he said.

Banner Urgent Care provides a close, convenient and affordable treatment option for patients with non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries; cold and flu; ear, eye and throat infections; fevers; skin rashes; and sprains, strains and lacerations. With about 25 locations across 14 cities in 3 states, Banner Urgent Care strives to provide the best urgent care to its patients. While the majority of its Arizona facilities are in the Greater Phoenix area, there are four in Tucson and others in Casa Grande and Pinetop/Lakeside. It is open every day of the year and accepts most insurance plans. For more information, locations and hours of operation, please visit urgentcare.bannerhealth.com.

For further information contact: media@bannerhealth.com

Original story link.

ALSO SEE:
“Paving a path for Valley fever research, treatment, prevention” | Posted Oct. 2, 2023
“Dr. John Galgiani receives AZBio Pioneer Award for Life Achievement” | Posted Oct. 2, 2023
“UArizona Valley fever expert, Dr. Galgiani to receive lifetime achievement award” | Posted Aug. 18, 2023
“Urgent Care data show Valley fever season has begun in Arizona” | Posted July 27, 2023