Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: JACOB OLIVEIRA DUARTE

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : JACOB OLIVEIRA DUARTE
DATE: 06/03/2024
TIME: 08:30
LOCAL: Sala de Videoconferência da Faculdade de Medicina - UFCA (campus Barbalha)
TITLE:

Coccidioidomycosis: A Case Series in Cariri, Ceará

KEY WORDS:

Coccidioidomicose, Coccidioides, Brazil

PAGES: 12
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Saúde Coletiva
SUMMARY:

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a systemic fungal infection that may particularly involve the lungs
in mammals. It is endemic to the Southwest of the United States, Northern Mexico, and certain
areas of Central and South America. Specifically, in Brazil, it is primarily described inthe
Northeast region. Its etiological agents are the dimorphic fungi Coccidioides immitis and
Coccidioides posadasii found in the dry soil of regions with low rainfall. Individuals who are
exposed to contaminated dry soil can inhale the infective form of the fungus (arthroconidia)
and develop CM. In Brazil, only 136 cases of this pathology are described in the literature.
Considering the scarcity of described cases, a descriptive essay was carried out based on
diagnosed cases of Coccidioidomycosis between the years 2012 and 2022, in a tertiaryhospital
in Cariri Ceará, discussing its clinical and epidemiological aspects. The study was carried out
based on the analysis of medical records from the Hospital Regional do Cariri, of CM cases
diagnosed on clinical and/or laboratory bases, between the years 2012 and 2022. 13patients
were identified from 7 municipalities in the Center-South and Southern Ceará, all male and with
armadillo hunting habits, with an average age of 19 years. The main clinical expressions were
cough, fever, and chest pain. 92% of cases were diagnosed based onclinical, radiological,
epidemiological findings and therapeutic response. All patients were treated with antifungals,
with 12 patients improving clinically and being discharged from hospital and 1 patient dying
without necroscopic examination. The data obtained allowed usto conclude that the area
covered by the reference hospital is endemic for
Coccidioidomycosis, compared with the data available for the northeast and Brazil, despite  

the poor use of complementary confirmatory diagnostic methods. As it is a pathology
considered neglected and underdiagnosed, this study warns of expectant actions by health
surveillance systems and physician attention in their routine as a differential diagnosis of
febrile lung diseases.

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