Contributions and Links

The Valley Fever Survivor^TM Store We hope you will visit us at our online store and support us with a purchase. Hats, T-shirts, mugs and other items are now available for sale. Profits from the sale of these items will be used to cover our expenses, promotion, lobbying, and our other efforts to educate and promote awareness of coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever). Please see our store to learn more!

The University of Texas San Antonio Valley Fever Vaccine Project. We urge our readers to donate generously to support this important research. Dr. Garry Cole at UTSA is working on a new vaccine that may not only protect people from Valley Fever, but may even work as a cure in patients with Valley Fever. Early testing has shown it to be 100% effective in mice, but more advanced testing is needed to determine its true effectiveness.

In his decades of work Dr. Cole has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed medical articles and held positions with the International Union of Microbiological Societies, the National Institutes of Health, and many other medical organizations. Recently he was a Stranahan Endowed Research Chair at the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of Ohio until becoming a Professor and a Margaret Batts Tobin Endowed Chair at the UTSA Department of Biology. His faculty homepage is http://bio.utsa.edu/faculty/cole.html

Donations by check to Dr. Cole's work should indicate that it is for "coccidioidomycosis vaccine research" in the memo area of the check or in an accompanying letter or note. Checks should be payable to UTSA and mailed to the following address:

Dr. Garry Cole
The University of Texas at San Antonio
One UTSA Circle
Room MBT 1.308
San Antonio, TX 78249

Credit cards donations are also possible with MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover. These contributions can be made online through the Development Office’s giving site at https://secure.entango.com/donate/Up3sjqiUrnB

UTSA informed us this is a secure web site and that an acknowledgment letter will be sent to every donor. The letter can be used as a receipt for tax purposes. Although the University’s tax ID is not necessary, donors who wish to have the tax ID can contact the UTSA Development Office at 210-458-4130. Along with your donation, please let them know you heard about Dr. Cole's research from valleyfeversurvivor.com.


www.valleyfever.com This is the homepage to the Valley Fever Americas Foundation Rotary District 5240 project dedicated to raising funds to help support the vaccine research being coordinated through the Valley Fever Vaccine Project of the Americas. As the name suggests, their primary purpose is to develop a vaccine to prevent future infections from this disease. Their work is of the utmost importance and requires your support. The web site offers a seasonal newsletter to keep readers updated on the status of vaccine research and funding. To donate to this organization, send your checks to:

Valley Fever Americas Foundation
PO Box 2752
Bakersfield, California 93303
Tax ID # 77-0424552

As noted on their web site, contributions to the Valley Fever Americas Foundation are not only tax deductible but “100 percent of all corporate and individual contributions will be allocated to the research, development or clinical testing costs in the development of a vaccine for Valley Fever. Overhead is completely provided by fundraising and contributions from Rotary Clubs and by contributions by the project predecessor, Valley Fever Research Foundation.”

The Valley Fever Center for Excellence is associated with the University of Arizona and presently conducting medical research for better medication and treatment for those with Valley Fever. The University of Arizona now has the rights to use nikkomycin Z, an experimental drug that has been suspected for decades to be a cure for Valley Fever. Contributions for that project can be sent to the following address:

The University of Arizona
Valley Fever Center for Excellence
Mail Stop 1-111INF
3601 S. 6th Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85723

Make the check out to the University of Arizona Foundation. You need to stipulate on your check's memo line that this donation is for nikkomycin Z research only and include the tax ID number below. Along with your check be sure to include a letter or note with the following information:

1. State that your contribution is only for the nikkomycin Z research project.
2. This contribution is to go to the VFCE tax ID number 86-6004791.
3. State that you received this information from valleyfeversurvivor.com.
4. Request a receipt for your donation.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) is a coalition of pharmaceutical companies that helps people who cannot afford their medicine by providing it at low or even no cost. Their web site requires browser cookies or it does not display anything but a blank white screen. With cookies enabled, there is information about this service at http://www.pparx.org and the PPA can also be contacted at their telephone number 1-888-4PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669).

The Pfizer Philanthropy Program
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer may be able to assist you with the high cost of Valley Fever treatments. See if you qualify for any of their programs at the link above or visit their main page www.pfizer.com for more information. You should also ask your doctor whether your current medication's manufacturer has a similar program to this.

www.imom.org
Since Valley Fever affects so many animals it is important to mention the charitable organization IMOM. Their web site's front page says they "are dedicated to insure that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged." The costs of Valley Fever's treatment can be so high that organizations like imom.org may be essential for many pet owners living in endemic areas.

The Fungal Research Trust: http://fungalresearchtrust.org/
This site has useful information about fungus and fungal drugs. VF sufferers should be particularly interested in the list of side effects.

Budster's Valley Fever Information: http://members.tripod.com/~B_u_d/vf.htm
This web page is a personal account of a man's ongoing health issues with Valley Fever, starting mid-2000 and continuing to the present. Budster's frequent updates should help others to understand more about living with a Valley Fever infection.

Pulling For Denise: http://pullingfordenise.blogspot.com/
This blog was established in July 2005 to cover Denise Williams' severe Valley Fever infection. Readers may benefit by learning from her and her family's experiences.