September 24, 2013 | 12:35 PM | By Lisa Aliferis
Federal Health Officials to Launch Study of Valley Fever
By Rachel Cook, Reporting on Health Collaborative
The leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health announced they will launch a clinical trial to get a better understanding of how to treat valley fever. The announcement was made Monday as part of a two-day symposium on valley fever being held in Bakersfield.
The randomized control trial will cost millions of dollars and involve roughly 1,000 patients, and it could help determine the best practices for treating the fungal infection.
?It will take some time to mount this trial, to plan it, to put it forward,? said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH. ?But I just want to assure all of you from this part of California that we?re serious about trying to get some of those answers even in the face of difficult budget times,? Collins said.
California?s San Joaquin Valley is a valley fever hot spot...
