BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — This story ran on Sept. 14.
Valley Fever resources will soon be available in five new Asian languages, helping expand awareness across Kern County communities.
The new effort is part of a partnership between the Kern Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Fever Americas Foundation.
“The idea behind the Valley Fever Ambassador Program is essentially a train-the-trainer program equipping people with the information needed to spread the word about Valley Fever,” said Brynn Carrigan, director of Kern County Public Health.
County health officials launched a new partnership with Kern's Asian communities to increase access to Valley Fever information and, more importantly, resources.
Information will be available in Punjabi, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
“We’re really focused on trying to get that education and outreach out into our community, and then this opportunity brought itself to us where we could partner to really expand even the languages that are available, and we jumped right on that opportunity,” Carrigan said.
Valley Fever is a fungal disease found in soil. During dusty or windy conditions, fungal spores can become airborne, making people sick when the contaminated dust is inhaled.
Health officials say key prevention measures include wetting down soil before it’s moved, using the air circulation setting in your vehicle or home, and wearing an N-95 mask during heavy winds.
They also recommend staying indoors when conditions are especially dusty and avoiding direct exposure to soil whenever possible.
Quon Louey, a Valley Fever survivor and vice president of the Kern Asian Chamber of Commerce, says the disease can hit hard and leave people physically drained.
“It’s flu-like symptoms; most people are not aware of that, so you just get very tired and so forth, and I tried to battle it, you know, work through it, but it really hits you really hard, all you wanna do is sleep,” Louey said.
Health officials emphasize that when people can access health guidelines in their native language, they make better decisions and experience fewer medical errors.
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