{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]],"date-time":"2026-01-28T21:31:07Z","timestamp":1769635867672,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,9]],"date-time":"2021-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1625788800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Up to 15% of deaths of people living with HIV is attributable to meningeal cryptococcosis, with nearly 75% occuring in sub-Saharan Africa. Although rare in children, it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV. A strong association between cryptococcal antigenemia and the development of meningeal cryptococcosis has been shown in adults. Thus, in 2018, the World Health Organization published an updated version of its guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention and management of cryptococcal infection in adults, adolescents and the HIV-infected child.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Goal<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To determine the prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia and to identify its determinants in children infected with HIV.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out at the approved treatment center of Laquintinie hospital in Douala over a period of 4 months. Children were recruited consecutively after informed parental consent. Cryptococcal antigenemia and CD4 assay were performed using a Cryptops<jats:sup>\u00ae<\/jats:sup> immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic test and flow cytometry, respectively. The data collected included the socio-demographic, clinical and paraclinical variables of the children, as well as their antecedents. Data analysis was performed using Epiinfo software version 3.1 and SPSS 21.0. The significance threshold was set at 5%.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A total of 147 children were enrolled. The mean age was 9.8 \u00b1 4.09 years. The majority were on antiretroviral therapy (142, 96.60%). Only 13 (8.80%) were in severe immunosuppression. No child showed signs of meningeal cryptococcosis. The prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia was 6.12%. Severe immunosuppression [OR: 10.03 (1.52\u201365.91), p = 0.016] and contact with pigeons [OR: 9.76 (1.14\u201383.65), p = 0.037] were independent factors significantly associated with the carriage of the cryptococcal antigen.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We recommend screening for cryptococcal antigenemia and routine treatment with fluconazole of all HIV positive children with cryptococcal antigen whether symptomatic or not.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0253781","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,9]],"date-time":"2021-07-09T17:45:43Z","timestamp":1625852743000},"page":"e0253781","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Cryptococcal antigen carriage among HIV infected children aged 6 months to 15 years at Laquintinie Hospital in Douala"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Ginette Claude Mireille","family":"Kalla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Josette Farida","family":"Mboumnyemb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jules Cl\u00e9ment Nguedia","family":"Assob","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marcelle Nina","family":"Ehouzou Mandeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nelly","family":"Kamgaing Noubi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marie Claire","family":"Okomo Assoumou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4510-8018","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Francois-Xavier","family":"Mbopi-Keou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francisca","family":"Monebenimp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,9]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0253781.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.3390\/jof3040067","article-title":"HIV-Associated Cryptococcal Disease in Resource-Limited Settings: A Case for \u201cPrevention Is Better Than Cure\u201d?","volume":"3","author":"R Oladele","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Fungi"},{"key":"pone.0253781.ref002","volume-title":"Guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention and management of cryptococcal disease in HIV-Infected adults, adolescents and children: supplement to the 2016 Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2018"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0253781.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"686","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/cix872","article-title":"High Cryptococcal Antigen Titers in Blood are Predictive of Subclinical Cryptococcal Meningitis Among HIV-Infected Patients","volume":"66","author":"R Wake","year":"2018","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0253781.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0005575","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0005575","article-title":"Cryptococcal meningitis: A neglected NTD?","volume":"11","author":"SF Molloy","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0253781.ref005","first-page":"31","article-title":"Occurence Of Cryptococcal Antigenemia In Hiv Positive Children: A Cross-sectional Study","volume":"8","author":"P Somdipa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int J Sci Res"},{"issue":"52","key":"pone.0253781.ref006","article-title":"L\u2019antig\u00e8ne cryptococcique est un \u00e9l\u00e9ment-cl\u00e9 du diagnostic des m\u00e9ningites \u00e0 cryptocoque","author":"F Dromer","year":"1996","journal-title":"Transcriptases"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0253781.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ofw055","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofw055","article-title":"Cryptococcal Antigenemia in Nigerian Patients With Advanced Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Influence of Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence","volume":"3","author":"RO Oladele","year":"2016","journal-title":"Open Forum Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0253781.ref008","unstructured":"OMS. 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