Cryptococcus

This chapter analyzes Cryptococcus neoformans, which is found worldwide as a soil organism and thought to be transmitted by inhalation and often causes disease in patients with abnormal cell-mediated immunity. It discusses the infection of Cryptococcus neoformans on patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, solid organ transplant recipients, immunocompetent persons. It also looks into cases of invasive cryptococcal infection that occur annually in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) worldwide with more than 150,000 deaths each year. The chapter investigates two varieties of C. neoformans that distinguishable by serology: C. neoformans var. neoformans and C. neoformans var. gattii. It explains that C. neoformans var. gattii is endemic in Australia and recent outbreaks of its infection have occurred in the Pacific northwestern parts of North America.