What Underlying Infection Should a Physician Immediately Suspect When Confronted

Multiple Choice

What underlying infection should a physician immediately suspect when confronted with a patient with confirmed cryptococcal meningoencephalitis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans, and why?

A) Influenza infection. Influenza virus and C. neoformans are frequently transmitted together in respiratory droplets.
B) HIV infection/disease. People with healthy immune systems generally fend off this fungal infection before it becomes clinically symptomatic.
C) Varicella zoster virus (chicken pox) . During the incubation period for chicken pox, C. neoformans has an increased ability to colonize the respiratory tract.
D) Syphilis. This sexually-transmitted illness depletes CD4+ helper T cells that are necessary to directly attack the fungal infection of C. neoformans.
E) Primary amebic meningoencephalitis. The causative agent of PAM also causes cryptococcal meningoencephalitis.