Influenza A virus (IAV) infects millions of people annually and predisposes to secondary bacterial infections. Inhalation of fungi within the Cryptococcus complex causes pulmonary disease with secondary meningo-encephalitis. Underlying pulmonary disease is a strong risk factor for development of C. gattii cryptococcosis though the effect of concurrent infection with IAV has not been studied. We...

BACKGROUND Cryptococcus gattii-induced cryptococcosis is an emerging infectious disease of humans and animals with worldwide distribution and public health importance due to its significant morbidity and mortality rate. The present study aimed to report a case of pulmonary infection by C. gattii molecular type VGII in State of São Paulo, Brazil. CASE PRESENTATION A 5-year-old goat showing int...

Since 1999 a lineage of the pathogen Cryptococcus gattii has been infecting humans and other animals in Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the USA. It is now the largest outbreak of a life-threatening fungal infection in a healthy population in recorded history. The high virulence of outbreak strains is closely linked to the ability of the pathogen to undergo rapid mitochondrial tubularisation...

Cryptococcus neoformans is a yeast-like organism associated with pulmonary, meningoencephalitic, or systemic disease. This case report documents 2 cases of cryptococcosis with central nervous system involvement in captive cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). In both cases the predominant post mortal lesions were pulmonary cryptococcomas and extensive meningoencephalomyelitis. Both cheetahs tested negati...

Cryptococcosis is an acute, sub-acute or chronic fungal disease caused by an encapsulated basidiomycetous yeast belonging to the genus Cryptococcus (Jagdish Chander). It is among the most prevalent lifethreatening mycoses and has a worldwide distribution (Meyer et al., 2003). Among the many species of the genus “Cryptococcus” that are prevalent ubiquitously in environment, C. neoformans and C. ...

A Luminex suspension array, which had been developed for identification of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii isolates, was tested by genotyping a set of 58 mostly clinical isolates. All genotypes of C. neoformans and C. gattii were included. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from patients with cryptococcal meningitis was used to investigate the feasibility of the tec...

The Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii species complex is a group of fungal pathogens with different phenotypic and genotypic diversity that cause disease in immunocompromised patients as well as in healthy individuals. The immune response resulting from the interaction between Cryptococcus and the host immune system is a key determinant of the disease outcome. The species C. neoforman...

BACKGROUND Among members of Cryptococcus neoformans- Cryptococcus gattii species complex, C. neoformans is distributed worldwide whereas C. gattii is considered to be more prevalent in the subtropics and tropics including Taiwan. This nationwide study was undertaken to determine the distribution of genotypes, clinical characteristics and outcomes of 219 patients with proven cryptococcosis at 20...

We analyzed 71 clinical and environmental Cryptococcus gattii strains that had been isolated before or after the advent of azole antifungals to determine their level of heteroresistance to fluconazole (LHF). All strains of C. gattii manifested heteroresistance, with LHFs that ranged between 4 microg/ml and 32 microg/ml. A considerably higher proportion of the C. gattii strains (86%) than Crypto...

Cryptococcus sp. are basidiomycete yeasts which can be found widely, free-living in the environment. Interactions with natural predators, such as amoebae in the soil, are thought to have promoted the development of adaptations enabling the organism to survive inside human macrophages. Infection with Cryptococcus in humans occurs following inhalation of desiccated yeast cells or spore particles ...