{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T06:31:33Z","timestamp":1792477893706,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":106,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773705600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01 AI135005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 AI135005"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U19AI166761"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U19AI166761"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["75N93019C00064"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["75N93019C00064"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["T32AI184340"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["T32AI184340"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a fungal infection caused by the inhalation of airborne arthroconidia released by Coccidioides spp. Endemic areas include the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of South America. The estimated CM cases exceed 300,000 per year. Current treatment for CM is limited and primarily relies on antifungals such as azoles and Amphotericin B. Moreover, concerns about drug cytotoxicity and rising of azole-resistance underscore the need for alternative or adjunctive immune-based prevention and therapies. This review presents recent advances in immune CM intervention and discusses the potential application of emerging antifungal immunotherapy to treat invasive CM. For preventive vaccination, we reviewed the recent development of subunit protein vaccines and mRNA-based vaccines. Prospects for formulating vaccines with potent adjuvants and delivery systems to enhance protective immunity against CM are also provided. For immunotherapy, we reviewed recent reports of antifungal treatment with immunomodulators, CAR-cells and checkpoint inhibitors. Finally, we discuss the application of experimental animal and in vitro models for advancing vaccine and immunotherapeutic development for CM.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12030214","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T10:17:44Z","timestamp":1773742664000},"page":"214","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Immune-Based Prevention and Therapy Against Coccidioidomycosis: Current and Emerging Approaches"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4389-4715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nawal","family":"Abdul-Baki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-3035-9213","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reimi","family":"Navarro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8901-3366","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jieh-Juen","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1091-3420","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiung-Yu","family":"Hung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1175\/WCAS-D-20-0036.1","article-title":"Economic Valuation of Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) Projections in the United States in Response to Climate Change","volume":"13","author":"Gorris","year":"2021","journal-title":"Weather Clim. 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