Mortality/Morbidity

Prior to the use of amphotericin B (Throughout this article, the term amphotericin B refers to amphotericin B desoxycholate.), cryptococcal meningitis and disseminated disease were invariably fatal; however, with the availability of amphotericin B, flucytosine, fluconazole, and the azoles, the mortality rate of cryptococcal disease dramatically decreased. In 1995, Speed and Dunt reported a 14% mortality rate among patients with cryptococcal disease who were treated with amphotericin B plus flucytosine and a 28% mortality rate among patients treated with other regimens.1

Race
No clear racial predilection has been reported for either cryptococcal infection or disease. No occupational predilection has been defined.

Sex
In most studies, cryptococcal disease is reportedly more common in men than in women.

Age
In a 1972 review, Lewis and Rabinovich reported that almost two thirds of patients with cryptococcal disease were older than 40 years; furthermore, in patients aged 50 years and older, cryptococcal disease was more than 3 times as common in men as in women. However, the pandemic of AIDS has lead to a simultaneous and dramatic rise in the incidence of cryptococcal disease and a reduction in the average age of affected patients.