Geographical distribution of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex: a systematic review

Victoria Poplin; Clarissa Smith; Diego H Caceres; Patricia F Herkert; Olujimi Jegede; George R Thompson 3rd; John W Baddley; Ilan S Schwartz; Ryan Kubat; Mark A Deka; Mitsuru Toda; Shawn R Lockhart; Tom Chiller; Ferry Hagen; Nathan C Bahr

doi:10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00161-7

Geographical distribution of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex: a systematic review

Lancet Microbe. 2024 Aug 24:100921. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00161-7. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA; Section of Pulmonary/Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
³ Immuno-Mycologics (IMMY), Norman, OK, USA; Center of Expertise in Mycology Radboudumc/CWZ, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Studies in Translational Microbiology and Emerging Diseases (MICROS) Research Group, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Centro Universitário de Pato Branco, UNIDEP, Pato Branco, Brazil.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁸ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
⁹ Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medical Mycology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.
¹¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

PMID: 39191262
DOI: 10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00161-7

Abstract

The taxonomy of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex continues to evolve, and has been divided into five pathogenic species. The objective of this systematic review was to summarise the geographical distribution of the C gattii species complex and the species within the C gattii species complex. We searched PubMed for articles related to human, animal, ecological, or laboratory-based studies of C gattii species complex isolates with traceable geographical origin published from January, 1970, until September, 2021. Having extracted their geographical origin, we used ArcMap to construct maps according to the highest degree of resolution allowed by their reported taxonomy, to reflect the most likely area of transmission on the basis of published reports of human isolates. 604 such articles were included in the study. This review indicated that although C gattii species complex isolates have been reported globally, understanding their heterogeneous geographical distribution by species can have implications for researchers and clinicians in formulating research questions and considering diagnostic quandaries.

Publication types

Review