K. Arasteh et al., CD4 LYMPHOCYTE COUNT IN HIV-POSITIVE PERSONS EXPOSED TO CRYPTOCOCCUS-NEOFORMANS, Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie, 283(1), 1995, pp. 127-135
A report is presented on four HIV-positive homosexual men examined aft
er several months of exposure during cleaning of a flat from masses of
pigeon droppings heavily colonized by Cryptococcus neoformans. Only o
ne out of the four persons, with a CD4 lymphocyte count of 50/mu L, fe
ll sick from systemic cryptococcosis, but not the others, with CD4 lym
phocyte counts of 180, 250, and 630/mu L, respectively; they remained
clinically and mycologically inconspicuous and free from C. neoformans
. Open questions in view of the epidemiology of opportunistic pathogen
s in AIDS are discussed with regard to the CD4 cell count as a paramet
er indicating a predisposition for cryptococcosis as an airborne AIDS-
defining opportunistic infection. This has been confirmed by specific
cultural diagnosis of the agent in both the environment and the patien
t. Already in 1987/88, the probable source of infection had been the s
ubject of epidemiological studies on C. neoformans in Berlin.