Chiranjeevi Kolla, a 37-year-old Indian man, died in California after a month-long battle with valley fever, his family said through a fundraiser. Chiranjeevi came down with the common flu in April, but his condition worsened and he went to the emergency room, said his cousin, Rama Koteswara Rao. Doctors suspected that the patient had severe pneumonia, but after examination, he was diagnosed with valley fever. Chiranjeevi is survived by his wife Pavani Marella and five-year-old son Vihan.“The doctors had done everything medicine could do. After thirty days of machines, monitors and prayers, his exhausted body could no longer fight,” the fundraiser said, calling valley fever a fungal infection caused by Coccidioides that is airborne from California soil. “Most people who contract the virus never know it. In his case, it overwhelmed his lungs,” the cousin wrote.“Chiranjeevi was the centerpiece of his family and the primary provider. His death left Pavani not only grieving the love of her life, but suddenly faced with the full stress of a family — a mortgage, daily life with a 5-year-old, a month-long ICU stay, and final rites that the family wanted to have in California and India,” the fundraiser said.“If you knew Chiranjeevi, you already know what we have lost. He was the kind of man who never raised his voice, never took shortcuts, and never made anyone feel small. He gave the best of himself to two things: the company he worked for and the family he came home to. Everyone who worked with him respected him. Everyone who knew him loved him,” the statement said.
What is valley fever? Is this common in the US?
Valley fever is a lung infection caused by inhaling spores of Coccidioides, a fungus that lives in the soil in some areas of the southwestern United States, according to the CDC and south-central Washington. Often, people with valley fever get better on their own, but it is often misdiagnosed and treatment delayed.In the United States, Coccidioides lives in soil and dust in parts of the Southwest and Pacific Ocean. Valley fever has historically spread in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico, according to the CDC. It is most common in California and Arizona. About 20,000 cases of valley fever have been reported in the United States.