<unk>  seen in the lung of a patient with AIDS. Mucicarmine stain is used in this case, staining the inner capsule of the organism red.<unk> is that does not affect the central nervous system can be treated with fluconazole alone. Cryptococcal meningitis should be treated for two weeks with intravenous amphotericin B 0.7–1.0 mg/kg/day and oral flucytosine 100 mg/kg/day (or intravenous flucytosine 75 mg/kg/day if the patient is unable to swallow). This should then be followed by oral fluconazole 400–800 mg daily for ten weeks and then 200 mg daily for at least one year and until the patient's CD4 count is above 200 cells/mcl. Flucytosine is a generic, off-patent medicine. However, a market failure exists, with a two-week cost of flucytosine therapy being about $10,000. As a result, flucytosine is currently universally unavailable in low- and middle-income countries. In 1970, flucytosine was available in Africa. Intravenous ambisome 4 (mg/kg)/day may be used but is not superior; its main use is in patients who do not tolerate amphotericin B. The dose of 200 mg/kg/day for flucytosine is not more effective, is associated with more side effects and should not be used. In Africa, oral fluconazole at a rate of 200 mg daily is often used. However, this does not result in cure, because it merely suppresses the fungus and does not kill it; viable fungus can continue to be grown from cerebrospinal fluid of patients not having taken fluconazole for many months. An increased dose of 400 mg daily does not improve outcomes, but prospective studies from Uganda and Malawi reported that higher doses of 1200 mg per day have more fungicidal activity. The outcomes with fluconazole monotherapy have 30% worse survival than amphotericin-based therapies, in a recent systematic review.
Cryptococcus neoformans
Cryptococcus gattii
Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
Aspergillus
Aspergillus tubingensis
Mycoplasma
Talaromyces marneffei
Pneumocystis jirovecii