Prevalence of cryptococcal antigen positivity among HIV infected patient with CD4 cell count less than 100 of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the main opportunistic infections associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Despite the present and increasingly availability of specific treatment for cryptococcosis, the mortality rate of this infection is still high, particularly in patients with advanced immunsupression and advanced cryptococcal diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This Prospective Cohort study was conducted at Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran, Iran. Serum cryptococcal antigen was detected using the Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) There were 86 HIV-infected patients included in this study. RESULTS: There were 86 HIV-infected patients in this study. The prevalence of positive serum cryptococcal antigen was 0% (0 of 86). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of cryptococcal infection among patients with advanced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the Iran is very low (<3%) thus the screening test for cryptococcal antigenemia dose not save lives and is not cost-effective in Iranian population.