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

Publication date

2024-12

Authors

Poplin, Victoria
Smith, Clarissa
Caceres, Diego H.
Herkert, Patricia F.
Jegede, Olujimi
Thompson, George R.
Baddley, John W.
Schwartz, Ilan S.
Kubat, Ryan
Deka, Mark A.

Editors

Advisors

Supervisors

Document Type

Article

Collections

Open Access logo

License

cc_by_nc_nd

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.

Keywords

Microbiology, Microbiology (medical), Infectious Diseases, Virology

Citation

Poplin, V, Smith, C, Caceres, D H, Herkert, P F, Jegede, O, Thompson, G R, Baddley, J W, Schwartz, I S, Kubat, R, Deka, M A, Toda, M, Lockhart, S R, Chiller, T, Hagen, F & Bahr, N C 2024, 'Geographical distribution of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex : a systematic review', The Lancet Microbe, vol. 5, no. 12, 100921. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00161-7