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NOTE: A surveillance case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. Surveillance case definitions enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. Surveillance case definitions are not intended to be used by healthcare providers for making a clinical diagnosis or determining how to meet an individual patient’s health needs.

CSTE Position Statement(s)

  • 10-ID-04

Clinical Criteria

Infection may be asymptomatic or may produce an acute or chronic disease. Although the disease initially resembles an influenza-like or pneumonia-like febrile illness primarily involving the bronchopulmonary system, dissemination can occur to multiple organ systems. An illness is typically characterized by one or more of the following:

  • Influenza-like signs and symptoms (e.g., fever, chest pain, cough, myalgia, arthralgia, and headache)
  • Pneumonia or other pulmonary lesion, diagnosed by chest radiograph
  • Erythema nodosum or erythema multiforme rash
  • Involvement of bones, joints, or skin by dissemination
  • Meningitis
  • Involvement of viscera and lymph nodes

Laboratory Criteria For Diagnosis

A confirmed case must meet at least one of the following laboratory criteria for diagnosis:

  • Cultural, histopathologic, or molecular evidence of presence of Coccidioides species, OR
  • Positive serologic test for coccidioidal antibodies in serum, cerebrospinal fluid, or other body fluids by:
    • Detection of coccidioidal immunoglobulin M (IgM) by immunodiffusion, enzyme immunoassay (EIA), latex agglutination, or tube precipitin, OR
    • Detection of coccidioidal immunoglobulin G (IgG) by immunodiffusion, EIA, or complement fixation, OR
    • Coccidioidal skin-test conversion from negative to positive after onset of clinical signs and symptoms

Case Classification

Confirmed

A case that meets the clinical criteria and is laboratory confirmed.

Related Case Definition(s)