The burden of HlV-assocjated cryptococcal disease

摘要

In this issue, Park et al. from the Centers for Disease Control, University of Alabama, and Johannesburg, South Africa, have made the first attempt to estimate the global burden of HIV-associated cryptococcal infection. As clearly stated by the authors, the estimates are exactly that - estimates, which rely on the quality of the data on which they are based. Nevertheless, the results are striking, especially for sub-Saharan Africa, where the estimated number of deaths associated with cryptococcal disease, at half a million per year, is comparable with the number attributed to tuberculosis, a much more frequent infection, but one for which -we have much more effective and widely available therapy