Cryptococcal antigenemia in anti-retroviral naïve AIDS patients: prevalence and its association with CD4 cell count.

Cryptococcus neoformans is the most incriminated fungal pathogen causing meningitis in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, and is known to constitute a major cause of deaths in AIDS patients. This study aimed to determine the sero-prevalence and effect of CD4 count on seropositivity for Cryptococcus neoformans antigen (crag) in antiretroviral- naïve (ART-naïve) AIDS patients. This study included 150 (61 males and 89 females) ART-naïve AIDS patients attending the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) clinic of the University of Benin teaching hospital, Benin City, Nigeria within the period February 2011- July 2011.