Evaluation of Conventional & Serological Methods for Rapid Diagnosis of Cryptococcosis‪.‬

Background & objectives: Cryptococcosis is a chronic infective condition affecting the central nervous system. Unless diagnosed early and specific treatment instituted it can be fatal. There is an urgent need for a rapid and specific diagnostic tool for better management of the patients. Conventional methods such as culture and India ink are specific but cumbersome and time consuming. Serological methods of detection are rapid but have problems of false positivity and cross-reactivity with other micro-organisms. We carried out this study to compare and evaluate the conventional methods with serological methods of detection of cryptococcal meningitis. Methods: A comparative evaluation of conventional methods (India ink and culture) with LAT (latex agglutination test) and EIA (enzyme immunoassay) was done in127 CSF samples using culture and EIA as reference separately.