Cryptococcus gattii emerging in Pacific Northwest and B.C.

[Guest guest]

CLL patients should be aware of a slowly emerging risk of Cryptococcus gattii

fugal infections in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia Canada, according

to CDC and a report in Medscape.

People over 50 years of age, those who take oral steroids, smokers and those

with immuno-compromising conditions (e.g. HIV, cancer, organ transplant) are at

a higher risk of disease.

According to Dr. , it is unclear why there is an increase in C gattii in

the Pacific Northwest, and in British Columbia. " There are several

possibilities, including increased 'seeding' of the pathogen through increases

in global trade and travel, new genetic combinations that permit adaptation to

different environments, and climate change that supports pathogen colonization

and infection in the area, " Dr. said.

The typical diagnostic test for Cryptococcus species cannot distinguish between

the more common Cryptococcus neoformans and C gattii, so a clinician seeing an

atypical patient with Cryptococcus should seek out speciation of infection.

" This is particularly important, because symptoms and course of disease with C

gattii are not the same as with C neoformans, " Dr. said. " C gattii causes

more cryptococcomas, which are tumor-like fungal growths in the brain, lungs,

and other tissues, and is slower to respond to antifungal treatment " than C

neoformans.

The most common presenting symptoms are cough, dyspnea, headache,

nausea/vomiting, fever, and weight loss. Clinical findings have been documented

as pneumonia (57%), meningitis (44%), encephalitis (21%), cryptococcomas in the

lung (34%), and cryptococcomas in the brain (25%).

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725219