Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology
Volume 18, Issue 3, Pages 197-199
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2007/319296
Late Presentation of Cryptococcus gattii Meningitis in a Traveller to Vancouver Island: A Case Report
1Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
3Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Received 16 November 2006; Accepted 23 February 2007
Copyright © 2007 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Since 1999, Cryptococcus gattii has been identified as a primary pathogen on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and it has resulted in infection of both people and animals living in that area. A previously healthy 45-year-old female resident of Alberta developed C gattii infection 11 months after travelling to an endemic region of Vancouver Island. A case of an immunocompetent patient, with an atypically long incubation time, who presented with subacute meningitis secondary to disseminated pulmonary cryptococcosis is presented. The present report highlights the need for clinical vigilance in treating patients presenting with atypical pulmonary infections or meningitis who have been holiday travellers to endemic areas of Vancouver Island.