Vaccine Development for Coccidioidomycosis

The first cases of coccidioidomycosis in North America were reported by Rixford and Gilchrist (1896) and the clinical profiles of these cases delineated the variations that can occur during the course of developing disseminated disease. The first patient, Joas Furtado Silverra, exhibited a slowly progressing disease, primarily manifested with disfiguring skin lesions. In contrast, the second patient, Jose Teixera Pereira, presented in August of 1894 and succumbed after 2 months of a rapidly progressive illness. Because of variations of clinical progression and the histopathological responses between these two cases, the name Coccidioides (like coccidia) immitis (not mild) and Coccidioides pyogenes (generating suppuration) were assigned to this organism. While the organism was thought to be a protozoan, it was not until 1900 that William Ophuls correctly classified the organism as a fungus (Ophuls and Moffitt 1900).