TikTok star Susi Vidal is diagnosed with deadly yeast infection Valley Fever after inhaling DIRT in Arizona

A popular TikTok influencer has revealed that she was diagnosed with the deadly yeast infection Valley Fever after visiting her parents in Arizona in September.

In a clip posted in December that has been viewed more than 500,000 times, Susi Vidal explains how the disease left her with a rash, debilitating fatigue, tightness in the chest and a “stabbing, sharp pain that came randomly in my side '.

The condition, which is becoming increasingly common in the US, is caused by inhaling spores of the fungus Coccidioides.

The spores are released into the atmosphere when the soil is disturbed. Therefore, the increase in infections is associated with rising temperatures around the world.

Although previously found only in dry, western parts of the country, the fungus is spreading rapidly.

Experts fear that the infection – which can lead to meningitis – could be endemic in 17 states by 2100.

Susi Vidal, who has 3.6 million followers on TikTok – where she posts examples of healthy recipes – told followers she originally mistook the condition for a worsening of depression.

'I think I got it in September. I live in Michigan and am from Arizona,” she said. 'I visited my family in September.

'My symptoms started as severe fatigue, and I thought it was my depression because I literally couldn't get out of bed.

“I ramped up my therapy… and therapy was really the only thing I could do. I had no explanation for my symptoms.'

Susi goes on to explain that her doctor in Michigan couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Valley Fever is believed to affect at least 20,000 Americans each year and in worst cases can cause fatal meningitis

“Then I got a rash all over… I got a rash all over my stomach… it looks like ringworm.”

The rash started with a small spot and then spread all over the content creator's body.

Other symptoms she suffered include a dry cough, a tight throat that “felt like I was wearing a turtleneck 24 hours a day,” and a stabbing pain in her side a few times a day.

“And when we went to Florida, I went to the emergency room in Florida. I literally couldn't do anything there. I literally slept the whole time,” she says.

'They thought my rash was hives, so they gave me a steroid injection in my butt.'

When this didn't work, Susi returned to doctors in Arizona who carried out a series of blood tests, as well as scans of her chest – before eventually diagnosing Valley Fever.

“It's actually a fungal infection in my lungs that I inhaled from dirt in Arizona. It is found there in the dirt and soil.”

The infection was named Valley Fever because 97 percent of cases occur in Arizona and California

The prescribed treatment consists of antifungal medications, which Susi believes will help reduce the severity of her rash.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 20,000 cases of Valley Fever were reported in 2019.

When people or animals inhale the spores, they travel through the respiratory tract to the lungs, where they reproduce, causing further illness.

Most infections are mild and clear up on their own within a few days or weeks, and the infection cannot be transmitted between people or animals.

Symptoms – fatigue, coughing, fever, sore muscles and shortness of breath – are similar to those of a respiratory virus infection, so they are easy to mistake for something else.

Other symptoms include night sweats, joint pain and a red rash, usually on the legs, but occasionally on the chest, arms and back.

But up to ten percent of cases become severe and recovery takes months.

In these cases, known as disseminated coccidioidomycosis, the disease can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain, skin and liver.

If it infects the membranes and fluid around the brain, it can cause meningitis.

In 2019, a study published in the journal GeoHealth predicted that the fungus' endemic area will spread north due to climate change and include arid western states such as Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.