Rapid Diagnosis of Cryptococcal Meningitis

Cryptococcal meningitis is a fatal opportunistic infection in immune- compromised patients. Lack of simple, affordable, rapid and specific methods for diagnosis in many Public Health facilities has aggravated patients¿ condition. A laboratory based cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the performance of India ink, Latex agglutination test and Enzyme immunoassay in the diagnosis of this disease in a Kenyan population. One hundred and thirteen CSF samples from HIV positive patients were analyzed. 21.6 % of all samples tested positive on LAT while 9 % were positive on India ink, EIA and Culture. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for India ink and EIA were: 90%, 99%, 90% and 99% respectively. By LAT, the values were: 100%, 86.1%, 41.7% and 100% respectively. From the results of this study, it is evident that Latex agglutination test was the most sensitive among the study methods. Therefore, LAT is an appropriate diagnostic test though it requires confirmatory testing. Local settings may consider frequent and unlimited use of LAT as a sensitive diagnostic tool for cryptococcal meningitis.