Ecoepidemiology of Cryptococcus gattii in Developing Countries

Abstract

Cryptococcosis is a systemic infection caused by species of the encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus. The disease may occur in immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts and is acquired by the inhalation of infectious propagules present in the environment. Cryptococcus is distributed in a plethora of ecological niches, such as soil, pigeon droppings, and tree hollows, and each year new reservoirs are discovered, which helps researchers to better understand the epidemiology of the disease. In this review, we describe the ecoepidemiology of the C. gattii species complex focusing on clinical cases and ecological reservoirs in developing countries from different continents. We also discuss some important aspects related to the antifungal susceptibility of different species within the C. gattii species complex and bring new insights on the revised Cryptococcus taxonomy.

Keywords

• Cryptococcus
• cryptococcosis
• reservoirs
• developing countries
• ecoepidemiology