BACKGROUND Cryptococcal meningitis is a leading cause of death among HIV-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent developments include the availability of intravenous fluconazole, cryptococcal antigen assays and new data to support fluconazole pre-emptive treatment. In this study, we describe the impact of screening HIV-positive adult inpatients with serum cryptococcal antigen (CRAG) ...

A Lateral Flow Assay to detect cryptococcal antigen (CrAg® LFA) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid for the rapid diagnosis of cryptococcosis was evaluated. A retrospective validation was performed. Sensitivity and specificity of the CrAg® LFA was 100%. High concordance (kappa index=1.0) between Cryptococcal Antigen Latex Agglutination System (CALAS®) and CrAg® LFA was observed. CrAg® LFA showed h...

We present a 27-year-old lady with HIV-1 infection who died due to rapidly worsening respiratory failure one day after commencing amphotericin B deoxycholate therapy for cryptococcal meningitis. Chest x-ray appearances were consistent with pneumocystis pneumonia but post mortem examination showed evidence of severe necrotizing cryptococcal pneumonia. Cryptococcal pneumonia is an underrecognized...

The incidence of cryptococcal infection is high in developing countries such as India. Cryptococcal meningitis is considered rare in immunocompetent patients and is mainly a disease of immunocompromised patients. Prognosis in immunocompetent patients is generally considered good. We report a fatal case of cryptococcal meningitis in an immunocompetent male caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. ...

Murine natural killer (NK) cells have been shown to inhibit the growth of the yeastlike organism Cryptococcus neoformans both in vivo and in vitro. An essential first step in NK cell-mediated damage of cryptococcal cells is the binding of the NK cell to the cryptococcal cell. The studies presented here focused on the binding event. Electron photomicrographs and three-dimensional reconstructions...

BACKGROUND Cryptococcal infection has become a public health challenge globally. However, information about cryptococcal infection in patients with hematological diseases remains relatively rare. METHODS HIV-uninfected cryptococcosis cases with hematological diseases admitted to Huashan Hospital from January 2001 to December 2014 were reviewed. RESULTS In total, 33 cryptococcosis patients w...

BACKGROUND: Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast that is an important cause of infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), lymphoid malignancies, and in those receiving corticosteroid therapy. The spectrum of diseases caused by C neoformans ranges from pulmonary infection to disseminated disease frequently involving the central nervous system, and occasionally ski...

BACKGROUND As important regulators of the immune system, the human Fcγ receptors (FcγRs) have been demonstrated to play important roles in the pathogenesis of various infectious diseases. The aim of the present study was to identify the association between FCGR polymorphisms and cryptococcal meningitis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this case control genetic association study, we genotype...

BACKGROUND Cryptococcal meningitis can best be diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid India ink microscopy, cryptococcal antigen detection, or culture. These require invasive lumbar punctures. The utility of cryptococcal antigen detection in saliva is unknown. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the point-of-care cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assay (CrAg LFA) in saliva. METHODS We screen...

BACKGROUND Cryptococcal meningitis is an uncommon but severe complication of sarcoidosis. METHODS We present 2 patients with cryptococcal meningitis complicating sarcoidosis and compared findings with 38 cases reported in the literature. RESULTS When analyzing our patients and 38 cases reported in the literature, we found that median age of sarcoidosis patients with cryptococcal meningitis ...