Is Oklahoma’s Mystery Illness Just Allergies Or The CDCs Fungal Lung Infection?

There are a lot of Oklahomans walking around right now who are convinced their summertime allergies have gone completely off the rails.

I understand the thinking. Been there, done that.

Your nose starts running. Your sinuses get stuffed up. Your throat gets irritated. You spend the day clearing your throat and wondering why your allergy medicine suddenly quit working. And the symptoms keep going... And going... And going...

And suddenly, a lot of people are wondering whether they're really having allergies at all.

There are a ton of Oklahomans dealing with this same mystery sickness right now. It starts in the sinuses, works its way down into the throat, and eventually settles into that lovely phase where you're constantly clearing your throat and grossing people out trying to snort it all into a swallow.

For some people, this exact thing is hanging around for two or three weeks. Which, even for the most sensitive sinuses, is a long time to keep blaming trees and grass in these fairly stable 100+ degree days.

And here's where the timing gets interesting.

As Oklahoma gets ready to send kids back to school, we're also coming off a stretch of wild weather that saw fast-moving fronts and dust storms across a pretty good chunk of the state. And that's when I ran across something new from the CDC that doesn't inspire confidence in your self-diagnosis...

The warning isn't about the mysterious sinus crud or a new strain of COVID. It's about something considerably more unusual.

Dust Storms and Fungal Spores

Specifically, the CDC has warned that high winds, dust storms, and other weather events can stir the soil and put fungal spores into the air. Breathing those spores can cause something called Valley fever... A fungal infection in your lungs.

Now, before anybody starts diagnosing themselves with fungus-lung, pump the brakes.

Nobody is saying that is what's going around Oklahoma.

There isn't anything in that CDC information saying the sinus-and-throat crud people are complaining about right now is some kind of fungal outbreak. Valley fever also tends to involve a lot more symptoms.

You should know, Oklahoma's own health department is tracking the usual respiratory viruses like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV at the moment. Its current public dashboard lists all three at low activity levels, although that doesn't account for every respiratory bug making the rounds.

It's the timing of it all. It's interesting at the least.

If you've started wondering whether you're actually sick, you're not alone there either. We're heading into another school year, and the kids are going to bring home every bug their classmates have. You know the drill... But if that sniffling and coughing leads to fever, headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, and muscle or joint aches, you might consult your doctor before Gen-Z starts calling you a lunger.