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Abstract Follow-up of previously healthy patients surviving cryptococcal meningitis found that cryptococcal antigen could be detected for >1 year in serum from 38 of 44 (86%) patients and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 20 of 31 patients (67%), far beyond the time of culture conversion. The speed of titer decline, measured as the number of days for a 2-fold drop in titer to occur, was slower in serum than in CSF. The speed of decline of antigen titers was much slower in...

Abstract Cryptococcus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause disseminated infection with predominant central nervous system involvement in patients with compromised immunity. Biologics are increasingly used in the treatment of neoplasms and autoimmune/inflammatory conditions and the prevention of transplant rejection, which may affect human defense mechanisms against cryptococcosis. In this review, we comprehensively investigate the association between cryptococcosis...

Abstract Among 1107 cryptococcosis cases from the French surveillance network (2005–2020), the proportion of HIV-seronegative individuals has recently surpassed that of HIV-seropositive individuals. We observed marked differences in patient characteristics, disease presentations, cryptococcal antigen results, infecting species, and mortality according to HIV serostatus.

Patients without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are increasingly recognized as being at risk for cryptococcosis. Knowledge of characteristics of cryptococcosis in these patients remains incomplete.We conducted a retrospective study of cryptococcosis in 46 Australian and New Zealand hospitals to compare its frequency in patients with and without HIV and describe its characteristics in patients without HIV. Patients with cryptococcosis between January 2015 and December 2019 were...

Amphotericin B is the gold standard treatment for severe mycoses. A new orally delivered, less-toxic formulation of amphotericin has been developed.In our randomized clinical trial, we tested oral lipid nanocrystal (LNC) amphotericin B (MAT2203, Matinas Biopharma) vs intravenous (IV) amphotericin for human immunodeficiency virus–associated cryptococcal meningitis in 4 sequential cohorts. Two pilot cohorts assessed safety and tolerability (n = 10 each), and 2 cohorts assessed efficacy...

Fungal endocarditis accounts for 1% to 3% of all infective endocarditis cases, is associated with high morbidity and mortality (.70%), and presents numerous challenges during clinical care. Candida spp. are the most common causes of fungal endocarditis, implicated in over 50% of cases, followed by Aspergillus and Histoplasma spp. Important risk factors for fungal endocarditis include prosthetic valves, prior heart surgery, and injection drug use. The signs and symptoms of fungal endocarditis...

Eculizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb), is used for the treatment of patients (both adults and children) with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. This mAb binds to complement protein 5 (C5), thereby inhibiting its cleavage. On the other hand, one of the C5 cleavage products, C5a, is a potent anaphylatoxin with proinflammatory properties, involved in antimicrobial surveillance. Administration of eculizumab has been reported to...

Cryptococcal disease is one of the most common opportunistic infections among people living with advanced HIV disease and is a major contributor to severe illness, morbidity, and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. These guidelines update the recommendations that were first released in 2018 on diagnosing, preventing, and managing cryptococcal disease. In response to important new evidence that became available in 2021, these new guidelines strongly recommend a single high dose...

Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the most common and serious human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–related opportunistic infections among adults in sub-Saharan Africa, leading to an estimated 135,900 deaths every year.1 Under the best conditions, cryptococcal meningitis is a challenge to manage and involves high-quality medical and nursing care and often prolonged hospitalization. Much of this is driven by the fact that the best outcomes are seen when the key antifungal agent, amphotericin B,...

BACKGROUND: Cirrhosis is an end-stage liver disease and is reported as an independent risk factor for cryptococcosis. Information about cryptococcosis in patients with cirrhosis remains sparse. METHODS: Human immunodeficiency virus-uninfected patients with cryptococcosis and cirrhosis admitted to Huashan Hospital from July 2005 to June 2020 were reviewed. Efficacy and safety of antifungal treatments, clinical outcome, and prognostic factors of mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 49...

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are one of the most feared complications associated with liver transplantation, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. We discuss the most common invasive fungal infections in the setting of liver transplant, including Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcal infections, and some less frequent but devastating mold infections. Further, we evaluate the use of prophylaxis to prevent invasive fungal infection in this population as a promising mechanism to...

Cryptococcus species can cause serious life-threatening infection in solid organ transplant recipients by reactivation of prior infection, post-transplant de novo infection, or donor transmission from the transplanted organ. Although previously reported in the literature, the extent of donor-derived cryptococcosis in the United States has not been documented. We analyzed potential donor-derived Cryptococcus transmission events reported to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network...

Cryptococcosis is the third most common invasive fungal infection in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients, but is rare among recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Infection often occurs a year after transplantation; however early infections are common in HSCT. Among SOT patients, donorderived infections have been described within 3 months after transplant. The most common disease manifestations are meningitis and pneumonia. The fungi Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii are the main causes of cryptococcosis.

Hematopoietic transplantation is the preferred treatment for many patients with hematologic malignancies. Some patients may develop invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) during initial chemotherapy, which need to be considered when assessing patients for transplantation and treatment posttransplantation. Given the associated high risk of relapse and mortality in the post–hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) period, IFDs, especially invasive mold diseases, were historically considered a...

These updated guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation review the diagnosis, prevention, and management of cryptococcosis in the pre- and post-transplant period. The current update now includes a discussion of cryptococcosis, which is the third most common invasive fungal infection in SOT recipients. Infection often occurs a year after transplantation; however, early infections occur and donor-derived infections have been...

Cryptococcosis is the third most common invasive fungal infection among solid organ transplant recipients but has been reported very rarely in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Pulmonary cryptococcal disease is the most common clinical presentation, and the central nervous system involvement is the most common extrapulmonary site. Diagnosis is confirmed by isolation of the fungus from culture samples and measuring cryptococcal antigen in various body fluids including serum and...