Title
Diagnosing, Preventing, and Managing Cryptococcal Disease Among Adults, Adolescents and Children Living with HIV
Authoring Organization
Publication Month/Year
June 27, 2022
Last Updated Month/Year
February 13, 2024
Supplemental Implementation Tools
Document Type
Guideline
Country of Publication
US
Document Objectives
Cryptococcal disease is one of the most common opportunistic infections among people living with advanced HIV disease and is a major contributor to severe illness, morbidity, and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. These guidelines update the recommendations that were first released in 2018 on diagnosing, preventing, and managing cryptococcal disease. In response to important new evidence that became available in 2021, these new guidelines strongly recommend a single high dose of liposomal amphotericin B as part of the preferred induction regimen for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in people living with HIV. This simplified regimen - a single high dose of liposomal amphotericin B paired with other standard medicines (flucytosine and fluconazole) - is as effective as the previous WHO standard of care, with the benefits of lower toxicity and fewer monitoring demands. The objective of these guidelines is to provide updated, evidence-informed recommendations for treating adults, adolescents and children living with HIV who have cryptococcal disease. These guidelines are aimed at HIV programme managers, policymakers, national treatment advisory boards, implementing partners and health-care professionals providing care for people living with HIV in resource-limited settings with a high burden of cryptococcal disease.
Inclusion Criteria
Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Child, Older adult
Health Care Settings
Ambulatory, Outpatient, School
Intended Users
Nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, physician assistant
Scope
Diagnosis, Management, Prevention
Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)
D003453 - Cryptococcosis, D003454 - Cryptococcus
Keywords
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HIV, cryptococcal disease