Ashiru J O, Akang E E
Department of Pathology & Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of West Indies, Trinidad.
Mycopathologia. 1994 Jul;127(1):15-7. doi: 10.1007/BF01104006.
Cryptococcal meningitis is an uncommon infection globally, including Nigeria. This systemic fungal infection often is associated with immunodeficiency. The most common causes of meningitis in Nigeria in the 2-3 year age group are the malaria parasites and bacteria. The concomitant infections of Cryptococcal neoformans and Plasmodium falciparum are uncommon. We present here the report of a case of fatal cryptococcal meningitis with malaria infection in a 2 year old child from Nigeria (one of the malaria endemic regions of the world). This case emphasizes the importance of doing a combination of fungal and bacterial cultures as well as looking for malarial parasites in the determination of etiological agents of meningitis in any hospital in Africa. We suggest that cerebrospinal fluid from meningitis cases must be cultured using Sabouraud dextrose agar and any growth on the agar must be examined using Indian ink.
隐球菌性脑膜炎在全球范围内都是一种罕见的感染病，在尼日利亚也不例外。这种全身性真菌感染通常与免疫缺陷有关。在尼日利亚，2至3岁年龄组中，脑膜炎最常见的病因是疟原虫和细菌。新型隐球菌和恶性疟原虫的合并感染并不常见。我们在此报告一例来自尼日利亚（世界疟疾流行地区之一）的2岁儿童致命性隐球菌性脑膜炎合并疟疾感染的病例。该病例强调了在非洲任何一家医院确定脑膜炎病原体时，进行真菌和细菌培养以及查找疟原虫的重要性。我们建议，脑膜炎病例的脑脊液必须使用沙氏葡萄糖琼脂进行培养，并且必须使用印度墨汁检查琼脂上的任何生长物。
