Community-level Health and Socioeconomic Disparities in Coccidioidomycosis: Insights from the Social Deprivation and Healthy Places Indices

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) is endemic to California's Central Valley, a region marked by socioeconomic disadvantage and health disparities. We retrospectively reviewed 72 adults with new or active disease seen at a tertiary referral center between January and June 2022. Nearly all patients lived in areas with high Social Deprivation Index and low Healthy Places Index (HPI) scores (assigned by residential ZIP code), reflecting marked neighborhood-level disadvantage. Over half required hospitalization and one-third developed complicated pulmonary or disseminated disease. Lower HPI scores were modestly associated with hospitalization, suggesting community disadvantage may contribute to Valley Fever disparities.