COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS - THE OTHER GREAT IMITATOR

A ''great imitator,'' like the perhaps more familiar syphilis and tube rculosis, coccidioidomycosis has a wide variety of clinical presentati ons. A recent dramatic surge in the incidence of this saprobe increase s the likelihood that clinicians will encounter an infected patient. A lthough rare, the disseminated form of the disease is potentially fata l. Vigilance and familiarity with the many faces of this pathogen will permit early detection and treatment. We present two cases of dissemi nated coccidioidomycosis and briefly review this increasingly common f ungal infection.