zoonoses and communicable diseases common to ... - PAHO/WHO

330 MYCOSES828 patients had meningitis. The cryptococcal antigen detection test was performedusing the latex technique for the capsulated polysaccharide antigen. The test waspositive in 16 of 17 patients with meningitis and with positive cultures (Nelson etal., 1990).A study conducted on 20 cats with cryptococcosis and 184 uninfected animalsused the latex agglutination test. The latex particles were sensitized with rabbit antibodiesto C. neoformans to detect the antigen in the cats’ serum. The test was positivein 19 of the 20 cats with cryptococcosis and in none of the controls (Medlean etal., 1990). According to some authors, the test has prognostic value in humans, inthat a progressive disease is accompanied by a rise in titer, whereas there is generallya decline in the agglutinating titer when there is clinical improvement.Control: There are no specific measures for preventing the disease. It is importantto control underlying diseases and to reduce prolonged treatment with corticosteroidsas much as possible.Controlling the pigeon population might prevent some cases. Human exposure toaccumulations of pigeon excrement should be avoided, particularly on windowsills,in roosts, perches, and nests. Removal of pigeon excrement should be preceded bychemical decontamination or by wetting down with water or oil to preventaerosolization (Benenson, 1990).BibliographyAinsworth, G.C., P.K.C. Austwick. Fungal Diseases of Animals. 2nd ed. Farnham Royal,Slough, United Kingdom: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau; 1973.Bava, A.J., R. Negroni. Características epidemiológicas de 106 casos de criptococosis diagnosticadosen la República Argentina entre 1981–1990. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo34:335–340, 1992.Bava, A.J., R. Negroni, A.M. Robles, et al. Características epidemiológicas de 71 casos decriptococosis diagnósticos en diferentes centros asistenciales de la ciudad de Buenos Aires ysus alrededores durante 1991. Infect Microbiol Clin 4:85–89, 1992.Benenson, A.S., ed. Control of Communicable Diseases in Man. 15th ed. An official reportof the American Public Health Association. Washington, D.C.: American Public HealthAssociation; 1990.Beyt, B.E., Jr., S.R. Waltman. Cryptococcal endophthalmitis after corneal transplantation.N Engl J Med 298:825–826, 1978.Chapman, H.M., W.F. Robinson, J.R. Bolton, J.P. Robertson. Cryptococcus neoformansinfection in goats. Aust Vet J 67:263–265, 1990.Cohen, J. The pathogenesis of cryptococcosis. J Infect 5:109–116, 1982.Diamond, R.D. Cryptococcus neoformans. In: Mandell, G.L., R.G. Douglas, Jr., J.E.Bennett, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 3rd ed. New York: ChurchillLivingstone, Inc.; 1990.Drutz, D.J. The mycoses. In: Wyngarden, J.B., L.H. Smith, Jr., eds. Cecil Textbook ofMedicine. 16th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1982.Ellis, D.H. Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii in Australia. J Clin Microbiol 25:430–431, 1987.Ellis, D.H., T.J. Pfeiffer. Natural habitat of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii. J ClinMicrobiol 28:1642–1644, 1990.Fromtling, R.A., S. Shadomy, H.J. Shadomy, W.E. Dismukes. Serotypes B/C Cryptococcusneoformans isolated from patients in nonendemic areas. J Clin Microbiol 16:408–410, 1982.