The early history of coccidioidomycosis: 1892-1945.
Coccidioidomycosis was first discovered by a medical student in Argentina in 1892, and knowledge about the infection mostly arose from observations of clinicians and scientists in California, primarily at Stanford University Medical Center. Some discoveries came by chance. Many others arose from careful epidemiologic and clinical investigations in the San Joaquin Valley during the 1930s, when people migrated there from the "Dust Bowl" of the Midwest, and during the 1940s, when the events of World War II brought military recruits, prisoners of war, and persons of Japanese descent to camps and other areas of endemicity. Especially impressive were the contributions of Charles E. Smith, who tirelessly studied this disease throughout his professional career.
Hirschmann
Jan V
JV
University of Washington and Puget Sound Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98108, USA. pepsi@u.washington.edu
D001118:Argentina; D003047:Coccidioidomycosis / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009172:Mycology / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States