Cryptococcal meningitis with malaria. A case report.

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.