UC Merced Health Sciences Research Institute will hold the second annual Valley Fever Community Awareness Day, the first ever in Fresno, at the UCSF Fresno Center for Medical Education and Research on April 8.

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The event will highlight the continued health risks of valley fever in the San Joaquin Valley and which populations are most at risk. 

UC Merced research assistants and supportive collaborators, including the Fresno County Department of Public Health, UCSF Fresno and volunteers from the Fresno State Premedical Club will be on hand to offer information on the causes, prevention and treatment of valley fever. 

Specific information on the effects of valley fever in children is also available through the work of UC Merced researcher Erin Gaab, who recently published a study on pediatric valley fever patients. 

Coccidioidomycosis, commonly known as valley fever, is a fungal infection endemic throughout the southwestern U.S. and especially prevalent in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Thousands of cases have been reported in recent years, but is often misdiagnosed or underreported as a result of its asymptomatic nature. 

The Valley Fever forum will go from 4:30 to 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Public parking is available in Community Regional Medical Center lots 16 and 22. 

More information about the event is also available at www.valleyfever.ucmerced.edu.