Cryptococcal meningitis accounts for an estimated 25% of AIDS-associated mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Accumulating animal and human evidence suggest that a higher, more fungicidal, dose of fluconazole during consolidation therapy could be more effective in controlling residual infection and may help significantly reduce posthospitalization mortality. Although the potential for toxicity is low, the use of fluconazole at a dose of 800 mg/day during consolidation therapy requires examination in a randomized clinical trial. In the interim, within countries where postdischarge mortality from cryptococcal meningitis is high and amphotericin-flucytosine combination therapy remains unavailable, the use of high-dose fluconazole consolidation therapy deserves serious consideration as a strategy with limited risk and the potential for considerable public health benefit.
Keywords: Cryptococcus neoformans; cryptococcal meningitis; fluconazole; human immunodeficiency virus; resource-limited settings; sub-Saharan Africa.