Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii Infection in HIV-Seronegative Patients from Northeast India: Report of Two Cases with Review of Literature

Cryptococcus neoformans infection can occur in a wide range of hosts ranging from those who are severely immunosuppressed to those who are apparently immunocompetent. Two apparently immunocompetent HIV-seronegative patients with cryptococcal meningitis and multiple skin lesions, both due to C. neoformans var. grubii, are reported. Pregnancy was found as an associated factor in cryptococcal meningitis in a 20-year-old female patient from Arunachal Pradesh. Multiple skin lesions were the presenting feature of an 18-year-old male patient from Dibrugarh, eastern Assam. The organism was identified both phenotypically and by sequencing of ITS1 and ITS2 regions of rRNA gene. The cases are reported because of rarity of this infection in non-HIV-infected patients.