Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection

Background: Cryptococcosis causes a high burden of disease worldwide; however, it has been relatively rare in Korea, where data on its prevalence and clinical characteristics remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the microbiological features of clinical cryptococcal isolates and to invest...

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Main Authors: Bosung Park, Eunsang Suh, Yeseul Choi, Tae Yeul Kim, Eun Jeong Won, Hee Jae Huh, Heungsup Sung, Mi-Na Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Journal of Infection and Public Health
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034125001911
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author Bosung Park
Eunsang Suh
Yeseul Choi
Tae Yeul Kim
Eun Jeong Won
Hee Jae Huh
Heungsup Sung
Mi-Na Kim
author_facet Bosung Park
Eunsang Suh
Yeseul Choi
Tae Yeul Kim
Eun Jeong Won
Hee Jae Huh
Heungsup Sung
Mi-Na Kim
author_sort Bosung Park
collection DOAJ
description Background: Cryptococcosis causes a high burden of disease worldwide; however, it has been relatively rare in Korea, where data on its prevalence and clinical characteristics remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the microbiological features of clinical cryptococcal isolates and to investigate the clinical profiles of HIV-negative patients with cryptococcosis in South Korea. Methods: Clinical isolates of Cryptococcus species were collected from two university hospitals in South Korea (about 5000 beds, in total) over a 4-year period. Species identification, multilocus sequence typing, and antifungal susceptibility testing were performed. Clinical features of cryptococcosis and prognostic factors for 30-day mortality were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 40 nonduplicate isolates from 39 patients during the study period and sequencing confirmed 38 isolates of C. neoformans and 2 isolates of C. deuterogatii. MLST analysis of C. neoformans identified 35 isolates as ST5, along with single isolates of ST2, ST15, and a newly discovered sequence type, ST707. The percentages of non-wild type to amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole were 10.0 %, 4.0 %, 8.0 %, 6.0 %, 2.0 %, and 8.0 %, respectively. However, the two isolates of C. deuterogatii exhibited a wild type phenotype for all the aforementioned antifungal agents. Overall, the cumulative 30-day mortality rate was 41.0 % (16/39). Univariate analysis showed that total parenteral nutrition, severe sepsis, intensive care unit admission, vasopressor use, acute renal failure, and underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD) were risk factors for 30-day mortality, and azole therapy was the protective factor. Finally, CKD was the independent risk factor for 30-day mortality by multivariate analysis. No significant differences were observed in patient survival across sequence type of isolates. Conclusions: This study showed that ST5 was the predominant genotype of C. neoformans in South Korea and CKD significantly increased the risk of 30-day mortality of cryptococcosis.
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spelling doaj-art-535f2dbc68ea45ce9f3fc5e05e0e33dd2025-08-20T03:20:04ZengElsevierJournal of Infection and Public Health1876-03412025-09-0118910284210.1016/j.jiph.2025.102842Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collectionBosung Park0Eunsang Suh1Yeseul Choi2Tae Yeul Kim3Eun Jeong Won4Hee Jae Huh5Heungsup Sung6Mi-Na Kim7Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author.Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaBackground: Cryptococcosis causes a high burden of disease worldwide; however, it has been relatively rare in Korea, where data on its prevalence and clinical characteristics remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the microbiological features of clinical cryptococcal isolates and to investigate the clinical profiles of HIV-negative patients with cryptococcosis in South Korea. Methods: Clinical isolates of Cryptococcus species were collected from two university hospitals in South Korea (about 5000 beds, in total) over a 4-year period. Species identification, multilocus sequence typing, and antifungal susceptibility testing were performed. Clinical features of cryptococcosis and prognostic factors for 30-day mortality were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 40 nonduplicate isolates from 39 patients during the study period and sequencing confirmed 38 isolates of C. neoformans and 2 isolates of C. deuterogatii. MLST analysis of C. neoformans identified 35 isolates as ST5, along with single isolates of ST2, ST15, and a newly discovered sequence type, ST707. The percentages of non-wild type to amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole were 10.0 %, 4.0 %, 8.0 %, 6.0 %, 2.0 %, and 8.0 %, respectively. However, the two isolates of C. deuterogatii exhibited a wild type phenotype for all the aforementioned antifungal agents. Overall, the cumulative 30-day mortality rate was 41.0 % (16/39). Univariate analysis showed that total parenteral nutrition, severe sepsis, intensive care unit admission, vasopressor use, acute renal failure, and underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD) were risk factors for 30-day mortality, and azole therapy was the protective factor. Finally, CKD was the independent risk factor for 30-day mortality by multivariate analysis. No significant differences were observed in patient survival across sequence type of isolates. Conclusions: This study showed that ST5 was the predominant genotype of C. neoformans in South Korea and CKD significantly increased the risk of 30-day mortality of cryptococcosis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034125001911CryptococcusMLSTAntifungal susceptibilityclinical characteristicsoutcomeKorea
spellingShingle Bosung Park
Eunsang Suh
Yeseul Choi
Tae Yeul Kim
Eun Jeong Won
Hee Jae Huh
Heungsup Sung
Mi-Na Kim
Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
Journal of Infection and Public Health
Cryptococcus
MLST
Antifungal susceptibility
clinical characteristics
outcome
Korea
title Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
title_full Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
title_fullStr Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
title_full_unstemmed Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
title_short Microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non-HIV Korean patients: 4-year collection
title_sort microbiological and clinical epidemiology of cryptococcosis in non hiv korean patients 4 year collection
topic Cryptococcus
MLST
Antifungal susceptibility
clinical characteristics
outcome
Korea
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034125001911
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