Coccidioidomycosis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fungal infection caused by inhaling spores from soil-dwelling fungi of the genus Coccidioides, leading to respiratory symptoms and sometimes disseminated disease
2. An illness resulting from airborne fungal spores acquired in arid regions, manifesting primarily as a lung infection with potential to spread to other body parts
3. A disease caused by exposure to certain soil fungi, characterized by initial pulmonary involvement and possible complications affecting skin, bones, or the central nervous system

Etymology: Coccidioidomycosis is a plain technical compound, built from the genus name "Coccidioides" plus a linking vowel and "mycosis," the medical term for a disease caused by fungi. The genus name itself is the key to the story. "Coccidioides" combines "coccidium," a name for a group of single-celled parasites, with the Greek suffix "-oides," meaning "resembling," so the fungus was named for its resemblance to those organisms. "Mycosis" comes from the Greek "mykes," meaning "fungus," with the suffix "-osis" denoting a diseased condition. Put together, the word simply names an infection caused by a fungus of the genus Coccidioides. Its length comes from the medical habit of describing both the organism and the disease in one stacked term, so the word tells a clinician exactly what is in the lungs before any test is run.

Synonyms: Valley fever, San Joaquin Valley fever, desert rheumatism, fungal infection, coccidioidal infection