BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SCR 42
Author: Fuller (R), et al.
Amended: 8/26/13
Vote: 21
SENATE FLOOR : 35-0, 7/1/13
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Torres, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, Evans, Steinberg, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 8/26/13
SUBJECT : Valley Fever Awareness Month
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares August 2013 as Valley Fever
Awareness Month.
Assembly Amendments make a technical change and add coauthors.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1. Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis), a progressive,
multisymptom, respiratory disorder, is a debilitating disease
caused by the inhalation of tiny airborne fungi that live in
CONTINUED
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the soil but are released into the air by soil disturbance or
wind.
2. Valley Fever attacks the respiratory system, causing
infections that can lead to symptoms that resemble a cold,
influenza, or pneumonia, and if left untreated or mistreated,
infection can spread from the lungs into the bloodstream,
causing inflammation to the skin, permanent damage to lung
and bone tissue, and swelling of the membrane surrounding the
brain, leading to meningitis, which can be devastating and
even fatal.
3. Within California alone, Valley Fever is found in portions
of the Sacramento Valley, all of the San Joaquin Valley,
desert regions, and portions of southern California.
4. In Kern County, the rate of infection of Valley Fever more
than tripled from 2009, for a total of 2,051 cases in 2010
and 2,734 cases in 2011, and Valley Fever infection rates
rose twelvefold nationwide from 1995 to 2009, according to
the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
researchers estimate that the fungus infects more than
150,000 people each year who either suffer serious ailments
without knowing the cause of their illness or escape
detection of the disease.
5. Misdiagnosis of Valley Fever is so pervasive that experts
say that some people suffer and even die from Valley Fever
without knowing they ever had the disease, and Central Valley
prison inmates are being infected by Valley Fever at epidemic
rates, contributing significantly to the state's prison
health care costs.
6. The rapid spread of Valley Fever at state prisons in the
Central Valley has resulted in multiple prison inmate deaths
and prompted calls to close certain affected prisons, further
exacerbating efforts to comply with federal orders to reduce
prison overcrowding.
7. Valley Fever most seriously affects the young, the elderly,
those with lowered immune systems, and those of African
American and Filipino descent.
8. There is, to date, no known cure for Valley Fever, but
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researchers are closer than ever to finding a much-needed
vaccine against this devastating disease, and the research
effort to find a vaccine for Valley Fever and a funding
partnership including the State of California were approved
by the Legislature and signed by Governor Wilson in 1997.
This resolution declares August 2013 as Valley Fever Awareness
Month.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
JL:k 8/27/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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