Meningitis in patients with HIV infection is almost always infectious in origin. Two opportunistic pathogens stand out as important problems in patients with AIDS - Cryptococcus neoformans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and together they account for about ?of the cases of meningitis. The rates of cryptococcal meningitis have been decreasing in the Western world with the introduction of effective suppressive therapy, especially fluconazole, and the introduction of effective treatment for HIV itself, with the consequent improvement in immune function. However, in developing countries, both tuberculosis and cryptococcosis remain among the most common and important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with AIDS.
