Abstract
Cryptococcal meningitis causes morbidity and mortality worldwide. The burden of disease is greatest in middle- and low-income countries with a high incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection. Patients taking immunosuppressive drugs and some immunocompetent hosts are also at risk. Treatment of cryptococcal meningitis consists of three phases: Induction, consolidation, and maintenance. Effective induction therapy requires potent fungicidal drugs (amphotericin B and flucytosine, which are often unavailable in low-resource, high-endemicity settings. As a consequence, mortality is unacceptably high. Wider access to effective treatment is urgently required to improve outcomes. For human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients, judicious management of asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia and appropriately timed introduction of antiretroviral therapy are important.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 169-182 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology |
| Volume | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 13 May 2014 |
Keywords
- Antifungal therapy
- Antiretroviral therapy
- Cryptococcosis
- HIV
- Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
- Immunosuppression
Access to Document
- Sloan_2014_JCE_Cryptococcalmeningitis_CC
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