This invention introduces a blood-based diagnostic test to assess coccidioidomycosis progression risk. The test is broken down into three overall steps: 1) blood collection, 2) ex vivo stimulation, and 3) mRNA quantification. This technology identified a predictive a gene set/biomarkers for coccidioidomycosis that was independently validated across patient populations. Background: Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection also known as Valley fever. In many, infection causes no illness. In most others, it produces pneumonia and numerous other symptoms that last for weeks to many months but is eventually self-limited. However, in a small proportion of infected persons, coccidioidomycosis progresses into its chronic disseminated form, which is often very debilitating, potentially fatal, and requires years to life-long treatments. The CDC estimated that in 2019, there were 18,000–28,000 annual coccidioidomycosis-associated hospitalizations and 700–1,100 coccidioidomycosis-associated deaths nationwide. Much if not all of the risk for disseminated disease is due to subtle deficiencies in persons immune response. No predictive tests have yet been developed to identify the risk of disseminate disease. This technology introduces a predictive test for enabling early intervention, risk-based treatment, and improved patient outcomes. Applications:
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