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Cryptococcosis in Patients Living with Hepatitis C and B Viruses

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Abstract

Cryptococcosis, a systemic fungal infection, has become a significant, global public health problem. Patients with liver disease have an increased predisposition to infections, such as Cryptococcosis. To report the underlying disease, the variety of etiologic agents involved and the outcomes of the Cryptococcosis in patients living with HBV and/or HCV, we reviewed 34 medical records of patients who were diagnosed with Cryptococcosis by the Mycology Laboratory of Santa Casa Hospital, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Males corresponded to 79 % of the patients, and the average patient age was 46.9 years. The cultures of 26/34 patients were positive: 25 patients were infected with Cryptococcus neoformans and one with C. gattii. A total of 14 deaths (41 %) occurred. As a criterion of our study, all patients had viral hepatitis infection: 27 (80 %) were infected with HCV, five (15 %) were infected with HBV, and two patients were infected with both viruses. Because HBV and/or HCV are transmitted among drug users through infected blood, and the end-stage cirrhotic liver must be transplanted, these two population types were well represented in this study and were analyzed in detail. Cryptococcosis patients living with HCV and/or HBV appear to have the same symptoms, mean age and gender distribution as the general Cryptococcosis population. Once Cryptococcosis affects the brain, a high mortality rate ensues; therefore, physicians must be aware of the possible occurrence of this disease in patients living with HCV and HBV.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Sídia Maria Callegari-Jacques for assistance with the statistical analysis. This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Bento Gonçalves 9500, 43421, Setor 4, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil

    Fernanda Sá Spies, Markus Berger de Oliveira, Monique Siebra Krug & Marilene Henning Vainstein

  2. Laboratório de Micologia da Santa Casa, Complexo Hospitalar de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Cecilia Bittencourt Severo & Luiz Carlos Severo

  3. Departamento de Medicina Interna, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Luiz Carlos Severo

  4. Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Marilene Henning Vainstein

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  1. Fernanda Sá Spies
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  2. Markus Berger de Oliveira
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  3. Monique Siebra Krug
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  4. Cecilia Bittencourt Severo
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Correspondence to Fernanda Sá Spies.

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Spies, F.S., de Oliveira, M.B., Krug, M.S. et al. Cryptococcosis in Patients Living with Hepatitis C and B Viruses. Mycopathologia 179, 307–312 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-014-9843-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-014-9843-4

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