On the other hand, the cost of antifungal drugs

alone for a 2-week course of CM treatment is £10,000 (based on a 70 kg adult, using Liposomal Amphotericin B and flucytosine as per BHIVA recommendations,16 St George’s NHS price). Using our conservative prevalence estimate of 5% in Africans with CD4 count < 100 cells/μL, screening 100 patients would cost £400 to identify 5 CRAG positives. Following a recently proposed algorithm for asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia,23 these would require pre-emptive fluconazole Cabozantinib chemical structure therapy until CD4 count > 200 cells/μL: 12 months’ treatment of 5 patients would cost approximately £300. This approach would thus be highly cost-effective (total cost £700) even if just one case of CM (£10,000) were to be prevented, notwithstanding the prevention of morbidity and mortality associated with development of CM. In summary, the prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia in newly diagnosed patients with CD4 < 100 cells/μL in a Southwest London HIV cohort is on a par with many resource-limited countries and was most frequent in Africans regardless of race. Late HIV presentation

remains common in the UK, particularly in Black Africans. CRAG screening selleck chemicals using new tests and fluconazole treatment is significantly less expensive than the treatment of CM. We would therefore recommend integrating CRAG screening of African HIV-infected patients with CD4 count < 100 cells/μL with national efforts to increase Histamine H2 receptor HIV testing in this late-presenting group who, globally as well as in this UK HIV cohort, appear to bear the largest cryptococcal meningitis disease burden. All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship to T Bicanic, WT089966. Cryptococcal antigen latex kits were kindly donated by Immy diagnostics (Immuno-Mycologics, Inc, Norman, OK,

USA). “
“The authors regret that in the above published paper the following corrections are necessary: At 7th line on [Serology] in [Material and methods] on page 327, “”a single titer >1:640″” needs to be corrected to “”a single titer ≥1:640″”. “
“The many pathogens that infect humans (e.g., viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungal parasites, helminths) often co-occur within individuals.1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Helminth coinfections alone are thought to occur in over 800 million people,6 and are especially prevalent among the global poor.7, 8 and 9 Other coinfections involve globally important diseases such as HIV,10 tuberculosis,11 malaria,12 hepatitis,13 leishmaniasis,14 and dengue fever.15 It seems likely, therefore, that the true prevalence of coinfection exceeds one sixth of the global population and often involves infectious diseases of pressing human concern.