Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis in a diabetic patient - the perils of an overzealous immune response: a case report

doi:10.1186/1757-1626-2-209

Cases Journal

Volume 2

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Kushawaha A
Mobarakai N
Parikh N
Beylinson A

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Mobarakai N
Parikh N
Beylinson A
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Case Report

Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis in a diabetic patient - the perils of an overzealous immune response: a case report

Anurag Kushawaha¹ , Neville Mobarakai² , Nirupama Parikh³ and Alex Beylinson¹

¹Department of Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA

²Division of Infectious Diseases, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA

³Division of Hospitalists, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA

author email corresponding author email

Cases Journal 2009, 2:209doi:10.1186/1757-1626-2-209


Published:	19 November 2009

Abstract

Uncontrolled diabetics are prone to infections due to numerous factors as the glucose-rich blood serves as an excellent media for growth. Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungus that is an important cause of CNS infections among immunocompromised patients, but it has only sporadically been reported in non-HIV-positive persons. The presence of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines and abnormalities in numerous systemic indicators of inflammation in diabetics makes it conceivable that diabetics mount an exaggerated immune response to C. neoformans (paradoxical to their defective immune state) leading to grave outcomes. We present a fatal case of C. neoformans meningitis in a diabetic patient which emphasizes the perils of an overzealous immune response.