[Susceptibility to antifungal agents of Cryptococcus species of clinical interest].

BACKGROUND

Studies on the susceptability of Cryptococcus species to antifungal agents are scarce.

METHOD: We investigate the susceptibility of 54 clinical and environmental strains from six different species using the Sensititre and the NCCLS methods.

RESULTS

Environmental strains were less susceptible than clinical strains. We found MICs >= 64 mg/l for fluconazole, MICs >= 1 mg/l for itraconazole and MICs >= 32 mg/l for 5-fluorocytosine in C. albidus, C. neoformans and C. uniguttulatus.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings point at the importance of determining the antifungal susceptibility of Cryptococcus species.