1993_10 Insight October 1993

              October 27,1993
THEAHW
Insight/California State University, Fresno
PageS
Flu-like illness
strikes valley
By Alison J. McGowan
StaffWriter
It sneaks into the human body
undetected. It might leave the body
in the same manner. In rare cases, it
can kill a human.
Most people never even realize
they'vebewvictinuofvalleyfever.
A person with the disease may not
exhibit any symptoms at all.
The 30 to 40 percent who do get
sick get flu-like symptoms within
one to three weeks after exposure.
Valley fever may cause a high
fever that lasts more th ana few days,
accompaniea oy a cougn mat asm
more than two weeks.
The coughing might bring up
bloody or brown-tinged phlegm.
Persistent aching joints or a rash
mat resembles the measles may also
be a signal.
"Most people get these symptoms yearly and they just have the
flu," said Sam Gitchel, health educator at CSUF's Health Center.
"The clue is if the symptoms are
long-lived."
The health center tests for valley
fever. If patients appear to have a flu
that hangs on longer lhan it should,
they will probably be tested.
Valley fever can be detected by
different test methods. A skin test
similar to a tuberculosis test indicates a positive or negative exposure.
If a positive result shows, a blood
test indicates if the disease is an
active, acute episode, Gitchel said
Doctors may listen to the patient's
lungs or take a chest X-ray in addition.
The medical term for valley fever
is coccidioidomycosis, cocci for
short
It is caused by spores of a fungus
dial infect soil. According lo the
American Lung Association, die disease is not spread from human to
human, but infects humans when
spore-containing dust is inhaled.
Once infected, humans develop an
immunity.
Farm workcrs.construction workers, archaeologists or anyone else
who works frequenUy with soil stand
a greater chance of exposure.
The disease reached epidemic
levels three years ago and the reported cases grew higher each year
since.
The epidemic is blamed on
California's years in a drought condition that dried out the land and
caused more dust than normal.
Fresno County public health officials report 45 cases of valley fever to dale, compared to 49 total for
the 1992 year. September to December historically have been the
months when the highest numbers
of cases are recorded.
"Deaths are hard to attribute to
vaiiey icvcr because piiy^Lms
might write respiratory failure as
the cause on the death certificate,"
said Gary Carter, communicable
disease registrar.
More than 40people havedied in
Kcm County this year from valley
fever. Kern reports the most cases
per county; Tularecounty ranks second
Dust-borne spores that land in
human air tubes usually travel back
into the throat and are either swallowed or spit out Swallowing die
spores is harmless.
If cocci does end up in the lungs,
they grow and spread through the
organ and sometimes to other body
parts.
If valley fever is contained in the
lungs, it is in primary form. If it
spreads to other areas, the disease is
in disseminated form.
Primary form is usually a mild
case. The course of treatment involves taking it easy so the body has
achance to recover its strength. Drug
therapy is usually not necessary.
For a disseminated case, the drug
amphotericinBisadministcrcdovcr
a one to six month period. The treatment usually requires hospitalization because die drug is known to
cause severe side effects.
African-Americans, Hispanics,
Filipinos and other dark-skinned
people are more susceptible to valley fever.
The more serious form of die
disease is seen more often in men
than women.
Pregnant women are more susceptible.
Junk food-aholics may
get their just desserts
By Christina Fonseca
StaffWriter
If there's any truth to the cliche "you
are what you eat" then you may be
sitting beside a 6-foot Bum' to Supreme.
According to Roper CollegeTrack,
an annual survey of student behavior
and attitudes, many students skip
meals and eat very unhealthy diets.
So what students eating? That's
an easy one—just look what's offered on campus. Students can
Jr., burritosatTaco Bell, sandwiches
at Subway, sweet and sour pork at
China Station, and pizza at Pizza
Hut
Those arcjust meal choices. What
about snacks? There are about 60
snack machines on campus offering
everything from Snicker bars to yogurt trail mix. The Country Store
also offers a wide variety of snack
foods, like M & M's, dried banana
chips, double-dipped chocolate-
covered raisins and Hostess
Twinkles.
Cynny Osbomc.CSUF nutritionist said there aren't really "good"
and "bad" foods, just different
choices.
"Fruits and vegetables arc not all
ihat readily available in our on-
campus fast food restaurants, or in
the Country Store, so ihcy arc rarely
chosen," she said.
Osborne emphasizes thai college students cat what they were
basically eating in high school.
"If they never ate vegetables
when they lived at home, they're
certainly not going to start now,"
Osborne said
Americans cat very few fruits
and vegetables, Osborne said. Wc
eata lot of refined grains and foods
that arc very high in fat "Fat is
where the flavor is carried," she said.
"Fat tastes good."
Leah Morgan. 22, business management major, said she cats about two
to three meals a week on campus. "I cat
burritos from Taco Bell," she said. "I
have to pick what's fast since my five
classes arc back to back."
Students who live on campus arc
given many food choices at every buf
fet-style meal.
But many on-campus studcntsstorc
goodies in their dorm rooms in case
they have a case of the munchics.
Amy Buckingham, 20, and Cindy
Estrada, 19, both liberal arts majors
said Ihey keep a lot of water in their
room along with juice, milk, cookies
By Alison J. McGowan
StaffWriter
Tisha McDonald collapsed from
chest pains on ihe last day of her
freshman year in high school. She'd
already been a frequent visitor in
die doctor's office widi a persistent
cough for six months.
Her affliction was at first thought to
be bronchitis. She was hospitalized
and treated for pneumonia. Finally, she
was correcUy diagnosed with valley
fever. Her lungs are permanendy
scarred and she has asthma as a result of
valley fever.
Children in the next decade will be
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"You can't screw up salad,"
Buckingham said with a laugh.
Many students in their rush are slopping meals altogether.
"The worst meal to skip is breakfast" Osborne said. "The body uses
those calorics to fill the muscles that
have been depleted over die night feed
DianeTrohalNSlGHT
Ray Reynolds, 22-year-old electrical engineering senior, enjoys lunch
from China Station, one ot the new eateries on campus.
and ice cream.
Both said they consistendy
ncr, which consistsof salad and fruit,
the residence dining hall.
the brain and for energy to keep you
going in the day."
Osborne suggested a bowl of whole
grain cereal widi a sliced banana on top
and non-fat milk poured over that for a
nutritious breakfast
"That's some real brain and muscle
food," Osborne said, laughing energetically.
Another area where students fail
nutritionally is their liquid intake. Many
students drink sodas by the gallons.
Others opt for coffee, tea or Ihe occasional alcoholic beverage.
"Soda, as a food, comes with no
vitamins, no minerals, no fiber and
the kind of carbohydrate the body
wants to store as fat, not feed
muscles," Osborne said. "Soda is
sugar water widi nothing in it"
Osborne suggests limiting sodas
because of the overall low nutrient
content She said to increase intake
of plain old water.
"Wcarc not accustomed to drinking water because wc have enough
disposable income to buy soda instead," Osborne said.
Diet sodas.evcn though they have
no sugar, are not a healthy substitute.
"They have phosphorus that we don't
need," Osborne said.
"Coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages, no matter what Ihey arc, actually have a negative water balance-
thcy pull more water from the system lhan they give to die system."
she said.
"So college students who arc sucking down the beers... ihey arc actually very likely to be dehydrated
unless ihcy are paying a whole lot of
attention to die fluids on ihc other
side," Osborne said
Ovcrall.Osbome warns to encourage students io make better nutritional choices.
"Just by getting rid ofthe high fat
snacks, college students would be
better of f-they would be better nourished," she said.
College pressures corrode the best
of nutritional intentions. Attempting
to "pull all-nighiers," students often
consume huge quantities of coffee,
sodas, and high-sugar snacks.
They should be eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other "brain
food."
Remember—you arc what you cat
Bakersfield scientists develop vaccine
able lo avoid the pain and long-term
effects if doctors in Bakersfield are
able to finish work on a vaccine that
was put on hold in 1984.
McDonald, now a telecommunications senior at CSUF, caught this potentially deadly disease from doing the
See VACCINE, page 7
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