Coccidioidomycosis historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Ganti M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
Historical Perspective
- In 1892, Alejandro Posadas (a medical student) along with his mentor, Robert Wernicke discovered coccidioidomycosis.[1] [2]
- In 1896, Emmet Rixford and T. Caspar Gilchrist coined the term coccidioidomycosis (resembling Coccidia), they grouped coccidioidomycosis under parasitic family.
- In 1900, William Ophüls and Herbert C. Moffitt described its dimorphic nature and defined it as a fungal etiology.
- In 1914, Cooke discovered coccidioidin skin test using precipitin reaction for the first time in diagnosing coccidioidomycosis.
- In 1929, Ernest Dickson described coccidioidomycosis as a lethal fungal disease.
- In 1936, Ernest Dickson along with his student Myrnie Gifford discovered that coccidioidomycosis is the same "San Joaquin fever,” “Desert fever,” or “Valley fever" which was considered as a separate entity until then.
Biological Warfare
C. immitis was investigated by the United States during the 1950s and 1960s as a potential biological weapon. The Cash strain received the military symbol OC, and original hopes were for its use as an incapacitant. As medical epidemiology later made clear, OC would have lethal effects on several segments of the population, so it was later considered a lethal agent. It was never standardized, around beyond a few field trials, it was never weaponized. Most military work on OC was on vaccines by the mid-1960s.
References
- ↑ Hirschmann, J. V. (2007). "The Early History of Coccidioidomycosis: 1892-1945". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 44 (9): 1202–1207. doi:10.1086/513202. ISSN 1058-4838.
- ↑ Brown J, Benedict K, Park BJ, Thompson GR (2013). "Coccidioidomycosis: epidemiology". Clin Epidemiol. 5: 185–97. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S34434. PMC 3702223. PMID 23843703.