New rapid test could revolutionize valley fever diagnosis in Arizona

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Thousands of people are diagnosed with valley fever every year in Arizona, and sometimes you can be misdiagnosed because the symptoms are so similar to other illnesses like the flu.

Now, local doctors have developed a new rapid test for valley fever that can detect the infection in just 10 minutes. They say it will help you get the right treatment faster. The average time to diagnose a patient with valley fever is close to three weeks, but now, with this test, they can detect the infection in just 10 minutes.

Valley resident Chris Sams has had valley fever for eight years now.

“It has impacted all aspects of my life,” Sams said. “I started to get sick. I started going through cold sweats and rapid weight loss. I think the worst is the brain fog. I’ve now been married to my wife for almost three years, but now I don’t remember my wedding.”

Sams got valley fever after moving to Arizona. He had never heard of the sickness before coming here.

Valley fever is a lung infection caused by breathing in fungus found in dry soil, mainly across the Southwest. While some people have little to no symptoms, the infection can spread to the bones, brain or spine in more severe cases.

“At first I was admitted into the hospital, and then I was put on an isolation floor because they thought it was tuberculosis, cancer or valley fever,” he said. “That took a week for that to get tested before they actually realized that I had valley fever.”

Doctor Thomas Grys with the Mayo Clinic says that delay is far too common.

“The median time to diagnosis is 23 days, so half of the people take more than 23 days to find out they have valley fever,” he said.

He says that because symptoms are similar to the flu or pneumonia, valley fever can often be misdiagnosed, and current tests can be slow and unclear, which can delay the appropriate treatment.

“Some patients come in four to five times until they figure out what is happening,” he said.

Grys has been working with ASU researchers over the last five years to create this new rapid valley fever test. It looks similar to a COVID-19 test and can give patients an answer faster. The goal is to detect valley fever more accurately and earlier.

“To be able to know within a matter of minutes versus seven to 10 days or two to three weeks of not knowing what you have and what treatment it is. It’s an amazing step forward in medicine right now,” Sams said.

The test is expected to be available for doctors’ offices by the end of the year. While there is no vaccine for valley fever, Dr. Grys says an animal vaccine could be ready within the next 12-18 months because they can get the infection too.

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