Abstract

PULMONARY COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS is a disease caused by the airborne arthrospore of the fungus Coccidioides immitis. This disease is widely endemic in the lower Sonoran life zone, which includes the arid regions of southern California, central and southern Arizona and New Mexico, and northwestern Texas.1 It is especially prevalent among Indian children living on reservations in central and southern Arizona.2,3 Some 70% to 80% of all such children have positive coccidioidin skin tests by the age of 14 years.2 Disseminated coccidioidomycosis is not uncommon in children from the endemic area.4 Neonatal coccidioidomycosis with associated dissemination is very rare. Only five cases have been reported.5–9 All but one have been fatal. This report of a four-week-old boy represents the sixth reported case. This child also had a primary peritonitis, which is an unusual area of coccidioidomycosis dissemination.