Comparative Genomics Refines the Association between Disease Phenotype and Pathogen Genotype in Cryptococcal Meningitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii in Viet Nam.. Cryptococcus neoformans

The vast burden of cryptococcal meningitis occurs in immunosuppressed patients, driven by HIV, and is due to Cryptococcus neoformans (formerly Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii). We previously reported cryptococcal meningitis in Vietnam arising atypically in HIV-uninfected, apparently immunocompetent patients, caused by a single amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) cluster of C. neoformans (VNIγ). This variant was less common in HIV infected individuals; it remains unclear why this lineage is associated with apparently immunocompetent patients. To study this host tropism we aimed to further our understanding of variation within Vietnamese C. neoformans