[A case of pulmonary cryptococcosis in dust-exposed worker]

Cryptococcus is an opportunistic pathogen, which belongs to yeast-type fungi. It mainly exists in bird droppings, rotten wood and soil. Respiratory tract is the main portal of invasion. It can occur in immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts. The clinical manifestations, symptoms, signs and imaging of pulmonary cryptococcosis caused by it have no obvious specificity, which may lead to misdiagnosis and mistreatment. This article reported a case of a patient with atelectasis complicated by cryptococcal pneumonia, diagnosed and treated at Qingdao Central Hospital of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences University in January 2024. The patient had a history of close dust exposure, wet underground work, the possibility of inhaling cryptococcal dust, and occupational environmental risk factors. The next-generation sequencing report (NGS) of alveolar lavage fluid detected Cryptococcus neoformans and diagnosed as Cryptococcus neoformans pneumonia.