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Volume 17, Number 2—February 2011
Research

Risk Factors for Cryptococcus gattii Infection, British Columbia, Canada

Laura MacDougallComments to Author , Murray Fyfe, Marc Romney, Mike Starr, and Eleni Galanis
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (L. MacDougall, M. Fyfe, M. Romney, M. Starr, E. Galanis); Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (L. MacDougall); Vancouver Island Health Authority, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (M. Fyfe); University of British Columbia, Vancouver (M. Fyfe, M. Romney, E. Galanis); St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver (M. Romney); Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M. Starr)

Main Article

Table 1

ORs for risk factors for Cryptococcus gattii infection for 30 matched case-patient and general population sets, British Columbia, Canada, 1999–2007*

Risk factors
 MOR (95% CI)
Medical
Lung conditions† 3.21 (1.08–9.52)
Pneumonia 2.71 (1.05–6.98)
Asthma 0.45 (0.12–1.66)
Diabetes 0.65 (0.17–2.50)
Anemia 2.64 (0.74–9.44)
Arthritis 0.97 (0.37–2.49)
Liver disease 4.00 (0.36–44.10)
Cancer 2.03 (0.63–6.81)
Other fungal infections 1.69 (0.23–12.20)
Tuberculosis 3.24 (0.29–36.60)
Oral steroid use‡ 8.11 (1.74–37.80)
Current smoker 1.00 (0.34–2.93)
Ever smoked
 1.18 (0.44–3.20)
Environmental‡§
Living with 1 mile of woods 1.70 (0.17–2.02)
Outdoor building or repairing house 4.00 (1.00–16.00)
Cutting/chopping wood 0.17 (0.04–0.76)
Pruning 0.28 (0.09–0.88)
Cleaning up branches 0.29 (0.10–0.84)
Digging earth 0.93 (0.38–2.30)
Camping 1.23 (0.23–2.91)
Gardening 1.15 (0.47–2.79)

*MOR, matched odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. Boldface indicates significant risk factors.
†Includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sarcoidosis.
‡In 3 mo before symptom onset.
§Other environmental risk factors not significant at α = 0.05: animal or crop farm within 1 mile of residence; construction or landscaping activities; cleaning of buildings, eaves, troughs, or bird feeders; contact with individual tree species; visits to botanical gardens; boating; use of compost materials and bark mulch.

Main Article

Page created: July 13, 2011
Page updated: July 13, 2011
Page reviewed: July 13, 2011
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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