{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T20:51:48Z","timestamp":1780087908079,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]],"date-time":"2022-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657843200000},"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>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a life threatening disease and leading cause of opportunistic fungal-related mortality in HIV\/AIDS. Most CM infections are caused by <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>neoformans<\/jats:italic> species complexes but the prevalence of <jats:italic>Cryptococcus gattii<\/jats:italic> species complexes in Uganda is unknown however, it is known in a few other parts of Africa. We estimated the prevalence of <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gattii<\/jats:italic> in patients living with HIV and a diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis in Uganda.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p><jats:italic>Cryptococcus<\/jats:italic> isolates (n = 200) obtained from cerebrospinal fluid of patients with CM recruited at the Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda, were tested by phenotypic methods. The <jats:italic>Cryptococcus<\/jats:italic> isolates were sub-cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar plates for 48 hours. The yeast colonies were examined by India ink stain, urea hydrolysis, and <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gattii<\/jats:italic> was identified by blue pigmentation on CGB agar. The results were analyzed for frequency of <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gattii<\/jats:italic>. Patient demographic characteristics were collected from the case record forms.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>From the 200 patients\u2019 case record forms, 87 (43.5%) were female and 113 (56.5%) were male. The median age was 35 (19\u201364) years. Most patients, 93% (187\/200) were from Central Uganda in the districts of Kampala and Wakiso. 97.51% (157\/161) of the patients had absolute CD4 lymphocyte counts of less than 200 cells per cubic millimeter; 1.86% (3\/161) 200\u2013350 cells per cubic millimeter and 0.62% (1\/161) above 500 cells per cubic millimeter. 45.4% (74\/163) were not yet on HAART and 54.6% (89\/163) were on HAART. 66.7% (58\/87) had poor adherence to HAART treatment and 33.3% (29\/87) had reported good adherence to HAART treatment. A total of 200 clinical isolates of <jats:italic>Cryptococcus<\/jats:italic> isolates were tested. No (0% (0\/200) <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gattii<\/jats:italic> was identified among the <jats:italic>Cryptococcus<\/jats:italic> isolates.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In this study among patients living with HIV and a diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis in Uganda, we found no <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gattii<\/jats:italic> infections.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0270597","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]],"date-time":"2022-07-15T17:31:37Z","timestamp":1657906297000},"page":"e0270597","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Prevalence of Cryptococcus gattii in Ugandan HIV-infected patients presenting with cryptococcal meningitis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Abel","family":"Wembabazi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dianah Rhoda","family":"Nassozi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Enid","family":"Akot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Timothy Isaac","family":"Ochola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Prosper Tom","family":"Kweka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nelson Tom","family":"Katamu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Meya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9741-5429","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Beatrice","family":"Achan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0270597.ref001","unstructured":"Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie (2018)\u2014\"HIV \/ AIDS\". 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