Cryptococcal Meningitis News and Research

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Cryptococcal meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The fungus that causes this infection is found in soil. The risk is highest when CD4 cell counts are below 100. You can get it by breathing in dust. Symptoms include headache, nausea, fever, fatigue, irritability, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, change in mental state, and hallucinations.

Social workers bridge the gap in HIV care for hospitalized patients in Tanzania

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have shown that three months of social worker follow-up support to people hospitalized with HIV in Tanzania had health benefits at low cost.

11 Mar 2024

New guideline aims to improve diagnosis and treatment of cryptococcosis

A group of international mycology experts led by Professor Dr Oliver A. Cornely at the University of Cologne has jointly drafted a guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of cryptococcosis, which aims at improving infection management and thus the survival rate of patients.

13 Feb 2024

The role of glucose in inducing tolerance to amphotericin B for fungal meningitis treatment

Researchers investigate the mechanism responsible for amphotericin B tolerance of Cryptococcus neoformans.

18 Jan 2024

New study shows how brain glucose affects fungal disease treatment

Metabolite-drug-fungal interactions in the fungal meningitis pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.

16 Jan 2024

New short-course treatment effective against HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis

A new short-course treatment is effective against HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis with fewer serious side effects, and has the potential to reduce the length and cost of hospital admissions, a study shows.

15 Apr 2022

Researchers identify compounds that tackle fungal infections in a new way

Current medications aren't particularly effective against fungi. The situation is becoming more challenging because these organisms are developing resistance to antimicrobial treatments, just as bacteria are.

17 Nov 2021

Clinical trial shows no benefit of tamoxifen in treating deadly fungal meningitis

Hopes that tamoxifen could improve survival for a deadly form of fungal meningitis have been dashed by clinical trial results published in eLife.

26 Oct 2021

Innovative cancer treatment effective in combating fungal infection in vitro and in mice

An innovative cell-based treatment for cancer has been found promising for the control of infections caused by fungi.

4 Mar 2021

Common first-line treatment for cryptococcal meningitis in being compromised by drug resistance

A common first-line treatment approach for cryptococcal meningitis in low-income countries is being compromised by the emergence of drug resistance, new University of Liverpool research warns.

8 Dec 2019

Common treatment for cryptococcal meningitis compromised by emergence of drug resistance

A common first-line treatment approach for cryptococcal meningitis in low-income countries is being compromised by the emergence of drug resistance, new University of Liverpool research warns.

6 Dec 2019

UTEP professor receives $2.7 million NIH grant to study AIDS-associated fungal meningitis

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $2.7 million grant to Luis R. Martinez, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso, to study a potentially life-threatening fungus and suggest possible treatments.

14 Aug 2019

ACTA trial in AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis validates new therapeutic regimens

The results of the ACTA trial were presented at the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science held in Paris from 23 to 26 July 2017. Professor Thomas Harrison and his colleagues at St George's University of London, the Institut Pasteur in Paris, Paris Descartes University (Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades), the ANRS site in Cameroon, and the MRC sites in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia show in this trial that new therapeutic regimens are of benefit in HIV-infected patients with cryptococcal meningitis.

15 Mar 2018

Microbiologists find deadly cryptococcal fungi in public spaces in South Africa

Large populations of potentially deadly cryptococcal fungi have been found on woody debris collected from old trees in two public areas in the center of Cape Town and the Northern Cape, South Africa.

7 Dec 2017

Cocktail of drugs for HIV patients with advanced immunosuppression reduced deaths by 27%, study shows

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 20th July 2017 suggests that a cocktail of drugs, if provided at the beginning of the HIV therapy, can save over 10,000 lives per year. HIV, which is often diagnosed late, leaves people vulnerable to other diseases by ravaging the immune system.

25 Jul 2017

Despite availability of life-saving medicaiton, annual deaths due to fungal meningitis are still over 180,000

International HIV experts have reported approximately 250,000 fungal meningitis cases annually, in the AIDS report, sub-Saharan Africa contributing 73% of cases. Cryptococcus fungus causes fungal meningitis and usually affects individuals who are above 35 years old, affecting the tissues covering the brain and the spinal cord

8 May 2017

Recent estimates reveal burden of serious fungal diseases in 14 different countries

Estimates never before attempted, show the number of people affected by serious fungal diseases in 14 of the worst affected countries across the globe have just been published.

22 Feb 2017

Could pathogen infection really lead to Alzheimer’s?

New concepts of infectious disease are evolving with the realization that pathogens are key players in the development of progressive chronic diseases that originally were not thought to be infectious. Infection is well-known to be associated with numerous neurological diseases for which...

12 Jan 2017

Common angina drug can stimulate patient's own white blood cells to combat cryptococcosis

A drug, more commonly used in the treatment of angina, could be the focus of a new strategy in fighting the fatal fungal infection cryptococcosis

8 Jun 2016

Cryptococcus research: an interview with Associate Professor Kirsten Nielsen

Cryptococcus is a fungus found in the environment throughout the world that is able to cause disease in humans. While most fungal pathogens don’t receive as much press as their bacterial or viral counterparts, they can be just as deadly.

1 Jun 2016

Duke Medicine scientists use transparent fish to show how Cryptococcal meningitis takes over the brain

Scientists at Duke Medicine are using transparent fish to watch in real time as Cryptococcal meningitis takes over the brain. The resulting images are worthy of a sci-fi movie teaser, but could be valuable in disrupting the real, crippling brain infection that kills more than 600,000 people worldwide each year.

29 Sep 2015